BMW, Mercedes end self-driving car collaboration

Image courtesy of BMW and Mercedes

It looks like we won't be seeing what self-driving vehicle BMW and Mercedes could've developed together. The two automakers have called quits on their ongoing partnership to develop automated driving technology. BMW and Mercedes say the split is "mutual and amicable." They are open to renewing the partnership in the future.

According to a joint statement, the decision was reached after considering several factors. One is that developing a shared autonomous vehicle platform became a more complex and expensive undertaking than they expected. Another is the agreement delayed how quickly they can have joint discussions between their in-house experts as well as communicate with suppliers regarding product roadmaps.

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Uber and Waymo abruptly settles lawsuit

In a surprising turn of events, Uber and Waymo have agreed to settle a self-driving trade secrets lawsuit on the fifth day of the case going to trial. Uber agreed to pay out 0.3 percent of its equity, which with the company’s US$72 billion valuation, puts that at over $245 million in stock. The company has also promised to work with Waymo’s parent company Alphabet to make sure none of Google’s confidential data will be used for Uber’s self-driving program (both in the hardware and software side).

The case began over a year ago when Waymo filed a suit against Uber accusing one of its former engineers, Anthony Levandowski, of downloading around 9.7GB of data or around 14,000 files before abruptly resigning from the company and later creating his own company called Ottomotto, which was acquired by Uber a few months later.

Source: Ars Technica