Photo: Shutterstock/Phil Pasquini (Shutterstock) General Motors’ Cruise robotaxi mapping unit returned to the Bay Area in September, about a year after one of its cars hit a pedestrian. That didn’t last long, though, as GM announced today that it “plans to realign its autonomous driving strategy and prioritize development of advanced driver assistance systems on … Read more
Uber and Lyft have been locking New York City drivers out of their apps to avoid paying millions of dollars in pay, according to a report. Rideshare app drivers have been getting locked out of the two apps – with messages that flash “unable to go online” or tell drivers to go to a busier … Read more
DUAL CHALLENGE If the only way to get a taxi is through an app, taxi services would be just one tap away from ride-hail services. From the customer viewpoint, taxis would lose the competitive advantage of immediate, convenient availability on the street without any booking. Side-by-side on the phone (even on the same app), the … Read more
Waymo’s autonomous robotaxis have become a nightmare for San Francisco residents — with their sleep being disrupted by the vehicles’ blaring horns for as much as an hour before the crack of dawn. Sophia Tung, a software engineer who lives above a parking lot for the driverless cabs, slammed the Alphabet-owned subsidiary for the unwanted … Read more
CCCS’ REVIEW The watchdog said that businesses are not prohibited from having a dominant position or trying to protect their market position through “competitive merit”, such as by introducing innovative products. “However, mergers that protect, enhance or perpetuate the dominant position in ways unrelated to competitive merit can be anti-competitive,” it said. The proposed takeover … Read more
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said he confronted the CEO of Uber after his cab driver accused the ride-sharing app of not allowing him to keep tips. Ackman, the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, wrote on his X social media account on Wednesday that he ordered a yellow cab in Manhattan … Read more
I laughed out loud when I learned that taxi drivers in Hong Kong had planned a strike in November to protest against ride-hailing services, which they claimed were costing them millions of dollars a day in lost revenue. That’s right. DiDi, Gojek, Grab, Lyft, Uber, and so on, which are ubiquitous in many cities in … Read more
