Transportation

Waymo wants to chauffeur your kids

Comment

Image Credits: Waymo

Soon, parents in range of Waymo robotaxis might not have to worry about picking up their kids from after-school activities — or any time, really.

The San Francisco Standard reports that Waymo, the Alphabet subsidiary, is considering a subscription program that would let teens hail one of its cars solo and send pickup and drop-off alerts to their parents. In a survey, Waymo referred to the program as “Waymo Teen,” and floated prices ranging from $150 to $250 per month for up to 16 rides.

“We have been exploring the potential for authorized teenagers to access [Waymo] under their guardians’ supervision and have received promising feedback from our research in this area,” a Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Waymo isn’t the only ride-hailing company looking to teens to boost profits. Last year, Uber began matching teens ages 13 through 17 with highly rated drivers in its network. Consent is required from a child’s legal guardians, who then receive notifications about their child’s whereabouts during rides.

More TechCrunch

At least 200 workers at DeepMind, Google’s AI R&D division, are displeased with Google’s reported defense contracts — and according to Time, they circulated a letter internally back in May…

DeepMind workers sign letter in protest of Google’s defense contracts

NASA officials will announce their final decision on Saturday as to whether two NASA astronauts — Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams — will return to Earth on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft…

NASA to decide Saturday whether astronauts will ride Boeing’s Starliner home — or use SpaceX’s Dragon instead 

America’s space industry seems mature, but the supply chain that provides all the parts and components for rockets, satellites, and other spacecraft is considerably less so. Gimbal Space is aiming to…

Gimbal Space takes on legacy suppliers with fast-paced component supply chain

Soon, parents in range of Waymo robotaxis might not have to worry about picking up their kids from after-school activities — or any time, really. The San Francisco Standard reports…

Waymo wants to chauffeur your kids
Image Credits: Waymo

Here is a timeline of Synapse’s troubles and the ongoing impact it is having on banking consumers. 

Synapse’s collapse has frozen nearly $160M from fintech users — here’s how it happened

Tens of millions of customer dollars remain unaccounted for at his previous startup, fintech Synapse. But that’s not deterring Sankaet Pathak from forging full steam ahead with his new robotics…

Founder of failed fintech Synapse says he’s raised $11M for new robotics startup

Cruise, General Motors’ self-driving subsidiary, said it has signed a multi-year partnership with ride-hailing giant Uber to bring its robotaxis to the ride-hailing platform in 2025.  Cruise didn’t say when…

Cruise’s robotaxis are coming to the Uber app in 2025

Until today, we’ve seen exactly 40 seconds of Boston Dynamics’ new electric Atlas in action. The Hyundai-owned robotics stalwart is very much still in the early stages of commercializing the…

Boston Dynamics’ new electric Atlas can do push-ups

When you really probe venture capitalists about investing in AI startups, they’ll tell you that businesses are experimenting wildly but are very slow to add AI solutions into their ongoing…

AI sales rep startups are booming. So why are VCs wary?

Citing a crowded market and profit concerns, Mineral ceased operation and pivoted to technology licensing.

Former Alphabet X spinout Mineral sells technology to John Deere

A nod to the Myspace era, Instagram just launched a new feature that allows you to add music to your profile. The feature is in collaboration with singer Sabrina Carpenter,…

Relive the Myspace days by adding a favorite song to your Instagram profile

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Monterey Car…

Ford pivots on EVs, Waymo doubles its robotaxi ridership and Canoo leaves California

After saying users “do not need to worry excessively” about a series of security flaws, Ecovacs said it will — in fact — roll out fixes.

Ecovacs says it will fix bugs that can be abused to spy on robot owners

Tidal, which quietly spun out of the department in mid-July, has its own grand ambitions to “feed humanity sustainably.”

Alphabet X’s latest spinout brings computer vision and AI to salmon farms

India’s ONDC has launched digital lending on its network as it expands into financial services after powering e-commerce, mobility and logistics with its standardized framework.

India’s open commerce network expands into digital lending

Apple continues to adjust its approach to compliance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA): Announcing another batch of changes Thursday, the iPhone maker showed off redesigned browser choice…

Under DMA probe, Apple tweaks design of EU browser choice screens, expands app default settings

These findings indicate that Threads engineers are exploring ad technology, but that doesn’t mean Threads will debut ads anytime soon, as some suspect.

Threads spotted exploring ads, but says ‘no immediate timeline’ toward monetization

The recall and the conclusion of the probe takes one worry off of Cruise’s plate at a time when the company is under great scrutiny.

Cruise recalls robotaxi fleet to resolve federal safety probe

The pellets can be stored in piles or silos, moved around using conveyor belts, and transported via rail cars.

Cache Energy’s mysterious white pellets could help kill coal and natural gas

The startup — which was developed in Romania but has a U.S. TopCo — now considers more than 5,000 brands and agencies as its clients.

Creatopy, which automates ad creation using AI, raises a $10M Series A

Live-shopping has grown into a massive sector in Asia, but the phenomenon is yet to see similar uptake in Western markets. But two tech founders are hoping the growth-hacking skills…

Tilt raises $18M Series A to build on its real-time shopping app’s success

Small businesses and startups often lack a dedicated travel desk, forcing executives and founders to rely on human assistants or consuming and cumbersome travel apps. Expedia’s former SVP of consumer…

Former Expedia exec’s startup uses AI to help smaller companies book travel

We’re down to the last 2 days to save up to $600 on TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 tickets! Prices will rise after August 23 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Don’t miss your…

Final 48 hours to secure your discounted tickets for TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

WeRide is delaying plans to go public, according to CNBC. The self-driving tech company aimed to hit the Nasdaq this week, but now says it needs more time to complete…

China autonomous vehicle startup WeRide delays US IPO

When a faulty CrowdStrike update brought down airports, 911 call centers and hospitals last month, it showed how a defective update could impact critical infrastructure. Now imagine that this update…

Trace Machina is building a simulation testing platform to update safety-critical applications

Connecting Threads more closely to Meta’s larger app ecosystem and its billions of users could also help boost Threads’ app — which recently surpassed 200 million active users — even…

Meta lets you cross-post from Instagram and Facebook to Threads. Here’s how to do it.

For some businesses, there is a clear path to growth that doesn’t involve acquiring other companies or expanding organically: franchising. The U.S. has more than 800,000 franchise businesses, according to…

Harmonyze wants to build AI agents to help franchisors make sense of unstructured data

Brazil fintech Magie raised $4 million in a seed round led by Lux Capital, marking the firm’s first investment in Brazil.

Lux Capital made its first investment in Brazil, a $4M seed for AI fintech Magie

Dropbox has acquired AI-powered scheduling tool Reclaim.ai, which counts Calendly and Index Ventures among its backers. The development was revealed in a blog post on Reclaim.ai’s website Tuesday. Dropbox hasn’t…

Dropbox acquires Index Ventures-backed AI scheduling tool Reclaim.ai

On the back of strong customer traction — more than 200 large enterprise customers — the startup has closed a Series B of $47 million. 

Opkey, an AI-based ERP testing platform, raises $47M