Volvo Self-Driving Mining Vehicles: I forgot to mention this in my round-up of niche industries for self-driving cars, but Paul Lienert reminded me on Twitter. Volvo has self-driving dump trucks operating in Sweden’s Kristineberg Mine.
Denso Buys Fujitsu Ten: Denso isn’t well-known in the US, but they are Japan’s biggest automotive supplier, and the second-largest in the world, behind Bosch. They purchased a controlling stake in a subsidiary of Fujitsu, specifically the radar group, which is critical for self-driving cars. It’s a move that signals the Japanese auto industry may focusing more on autonomous vehicles.
Layoffs in Apple’s Car Group: Apple’s self-driving car group, allegedly code-named Project Titan, is a little bit like the Delta Force — everybody knows they exist but nobody will confirm it. Recent layoffs in the group were reported by just about every major news outlet, though, so I think it’s safe to say that both the group and the layoffs are real. Reading between the lines, it looks like Apple may be moving away from physical hardware and focusing increasingly on self-driving software.
David Silver 