Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This week was fun. Back in the studio, Connie Loizos, Matthew Lynley, your humble servant, and Ramneek Gupta, managing director of Citi Ventures was with us to provide the venture perspective. As you can probably guess, we got […]
View More Equity podcast: More funding for scooters, Cruise gets a boost, and Chinese IPOsCategory: General Motors
Why SoftBank invested $2.25 billion in Cruise
Earlier today, General Motors’ Cruise received a $2.25 billion investment from SoftBank’s Vision Fund. Once that deal closes, GM will invest another $1.1 billion. SoftBank landed on Cruise because it’s one of “a handful that in our view have a meaningful opportunity in front of them,” SoftBank Vision Fund Managing Partner Michael Ronen told TechCrunch. […]
View More Why SoftBank invested $2.25 billion in CruiseThe well-funded startups driven to own the autonomous vehicle stack
At some point in the future, while riding along in a car, a kid may ask their parent about a distant time in the past when people used steering wheels and pedals to control an automobile. Of course, the full realization of the “auto” part of the word — in the form of fully autonomous automobiles — is a long way off, but there are nonetheless companies trying to build that future today.
View More The well-funded startups driven to own the autonomous vehicle stackUpstarts emerge to chase Tesla’s lead in electric vehicles
A slew of well-funded new entrants backed by massive amounts of capital are chasing Tesla’s lead in an effort to power the next generation of the electric vehicle industry. Electric vehicle startups have raised more than $2 billion in the U.S. over the first months of 2018 alone, a huge increase over the $650 million […]
View More Upstarts emerge to chase Tesla’s lead in electric vehiclesBMW, GM, Ford and Renault launch blockchain research group for automotive industry
Car makers BMW, General Motors, Ford and Renault are the big names behind a new group announced today to explore the potential of the blockchain in the automotive and mobility space. MOBI — the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative — launches today with over 30 founding members that also include Bosch, Blockchain at Berkeley, Hyperledger, Fetch.ai, IBM and IOTA. The […]
View More BMW, GM, Ford and Renault launch blockchain research group for automotive industryBuick unveils an all-electric SUV concept and it’s exactly what GM needs
General Motors is spinning up its electrification plans and today announced the stunning, poorly-named Buick Enspire concept at Auto China 2018. As a concepts go, this one looks great and rather feasible. GM says its powered by Buick’s eMotion powertrain that can produce a maximum output of 410 kW (roughly 550 hp). This should make […]
View More Buick unveils an all-electric SUV concept and it’s exactly what GM needs16 automakers launch campaign to promote electric cars
Automakers around the U.S. really, really want you to drive an electric car.
A group of car companies and state governments launched a campaign Wednesday to convince consumers to consider electric cars. It’s called “Drive Change. Drive Electric…
Cruise’s CTO, a former Uber manager, is out
General Motors’ self-driving car unit, Cruise Automation, is parting ways with CTO A.G. Gangadhar, Bloomberg first reported. This comes after public complaints pertaining to his role in fostering an alleged unsafe work environment for women. “After serious consideration, Cruise and AG have elected to part ways,” a Cruise spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement. “We […]
View More Cruise’s CTO, a former Uber manager, is outGM will build its production autonomous Cruise cars at Michigan assembly plant
GM revealed today that it’s going to be starting proper production of its Cruise autonomous vehicle at its Orion township assembly plant in Michigan, with the roof modules for the vehicles assembled nearby at its Brownstowne battery assembly plant. Alongside the Cruise AV, Orion will also continue to build the Bolt EV, as well as […]
View More GM will build its production autonomous Cruise cars at Michigan assembly plantGM said to pilot peer-to-peer car sharing through its Maven brand
Automaker General Motors is said to be planning a new peer-to-peer car rental service, similar to existing offerings by Daimler-backed Turo and startup Getaround, to debut as early as this summer according to Bloomberg. The service will debut in a test pilot set to begin this summer, under GM’s Maven mobility sub-brand, per the report, and will allow GM car owners to list their vehicles… Read More
GM and Cruise reveal their fourth-generation, steering wheel-free Cruise AV
GM and Cruise are making progress on their plan to deploy autonomous vehicles on roads for the public: Today, it’s showing off its fourth-generation Cruise Autonomous Vehicle (AV), which comes just a few short months after it first revealed its third-generation vehicle. The fourth generation car is production-ready, according to GM’s Dan Ammann, who discussed the new vehicle on a… Read More
Super confident GM says its driverless cars will hit city streets by 2019
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General Motors President Dan Ammann made a rather bold statement today: In less than two years, autonomous Chevy Bolts will be driving around busy city streets.
“If we continue on our current rate of change, we will be ready to deploy this technology in large scale in the most complex environments in 2019,” Ammann said at a press and investor event in San Francisco, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
To help realize its driverless dreams, General Motors purchased the autonomous driving company Cruise Automation in 2016, and there are now some 1,200 GM employees working in the auto manufacturer’s self-driving division. Read more…
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View More Super confident GM says its driverless cars will hit city streets by 2019