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Tag: Level 5

  • Toyota Acquiring Lyft’s Self-Driving Division

    Toyota Acquiring Lyft’s Self-Driving Division

    Lyft has announced Toyota subsidiary Woven Planet is acquiring its self-driving division, Level 5.

    Autonomous driving is widely considered to be the next major evolution of the auto industry. Unfortunately, autonomous driving has been a difficult technology to crack for companies of all sizes. Tesla recently was called out by Consumer Reports for self-driving tech that’s easily fooled.

    Meanwhile, Level 5 was launched in 2017, with the goal being to have a majority of rides happen in self-driving vehicles by 2021. Instead, Lyft is now selling off its self-driving division after failing to meet those goals. Woven Planet, Toyota’s autonomous driving division, is buying Level 5 for $550 million.

    “Today’s announcement launches Lyft into the next phase of an incredible journey to bring our mission to life,” Lyft Co-Founder and CEO Logan Green said. “Lyft has spent nine years building a transportation network that is uniquely capable of scaling AVs. This partnership between Woven Planet and Lyft represents a major step forward for autonomous vehicle technology.”

    “This acquisition assembles a dream team of world-class engineers and scientists to deliver safe mobility technology for the world,” James Kuffner, CEO of Woven Planet said. “The Woven Planet team, alongside the team of researchers at Toyota Research Institute, have already established a center of excellence for software development, automated driving, and advanced safety technology within the Toyota Group. I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Level 5’s world-class engineers and experts into our company, which will greatly strengthen our efforts.”

  • Lyft Begins Testing Autonomous Cars On Public Roads Again

    Lyft Begins Testing Autonomous Cars On Public Roads Again

    Lyft has begun testing its autonomous vehicles on California roads again.

    When the pandemic caused people to stay at home, Lyft’s public testing program was suspended. As California has eased restrictions, however, the company has resumed its testing program.

    “We’re excited to announce that our autonomous vehicles (AVs) are back on the road — and that during the shelter in place we continued to make progress by doubling down on simulation,” reads the company’s blog post. “Simulation is an important part of our testing program, enabling us to test beyond road miles.”

    At the same time, the company downplayed any impact the temporary hiatus had.

    “While road testing remains a critical aspect of our program, simulation allows us to leverage existing on-road data in many more ways, and multiple times over, to help improve and validate our software,” continues the blog. “With Lyft’s unique data and Level 5’s advancements in simulation, we believe we’re reducing the road miles needed by several orders of magnitude. Our focus on simulation over the last few months allowed us to maintain Level 5’s momentum toward our goal to improve access to safe and reliable transportation for millions of Lyft riders everywhere.”

    This is good news for Lyft and the autonomous vehicle industry in general. Especially in view of the pandemic and social distancing, the demand for autonomous, driverless vehicles may see an increase for reasons few would ever have expected.