3 minutes

Dennis Katsnelson

Waabi receives $200 million investment to develop self-driving trucks

Waabi, a leading technology company in the autonomous vehicle industry, has recently announced the receipt of $200 million in investments from major investors such as Nvidia, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Scania Invest, Ingka Investments.

This substantial funding will fuel the development and launch of fully autonomous trucks in Texas, as well as the expansion of autonomous operations to additional regions, with the ultimate goal of revolutionizing the supply chain industry. Despite being founded in 2021, Waabi has emerged as a pioneer in the development of a comprehensive artificial intelligence system that enables vehicles to operate autonomously for extended periods, efficiently analyzing and responding to various road scenarios.

Raquel Urtasun, the founder and CEO of Waabi, expressed confidence in the company's technological advancements, citing three years of significant progress in artificial intelligence research. Urtasun boldly stated that Waabi is now well-positioned to introduce fully unmanned autonomous trucks by the year 2025.D

Disruption Hits Car Dealerships as Software Supplier Falls Victim to Cyberattacks

This past week, CDK Global, a leading provider of software solutions for auto dealerships in the US and Canada, experienced a series of cyberattacks resulting in significant system failures for car dealers across the country. Headquartered in Illinois, CDK Global serves over 15,000 retail locations in North America, providing essential software technology to facilitate the day-to-day operations of car dealerships. In response to the cyberattacks, company spokesperson Lisa Finney confirmed that CDK Global is actively investigating the incidents and anticipates it will take several days to fully recover from the breaches.

We took this video from ABC News YouTube Channel.

As a result of the cyberattacks, several major auto manufacturers, including Stellantis, Ford, and BMW, were forced to temporarily shift to manual customer service processes and alerted their customers to possible delays in service.

EU accuses Apple of violating Digital Markets Act rules

European Union regulators have filed charges against Apple accusing the company of violating the Digital Markets Act by stifling competition in the App Store. This is the first time an EU regulator is going to apply new rules to restrict Apple's activities. Under the DMA law, which came into force in March this year, developers distributing their apps through Apple's App Store must be able to inform their customers of cheaper content offers for free and allow them to make purchases. The Digital Markets Act gives Apple the right to be rewarded through the App Store for helping developers initially attract a new customer, but Brussels says the company is charging excessive fees for this.

We took this video from Bloomberg Television YouTube Channel.

In particular, music streaming service Spotify has raised concerns about Apple's policy mandating that all subscriptions be purchased solely through iOS apps, enabling Apple to collect a commission of up to 30%. The European Commission has set a deadline of March 2025 for reaching a final decision in this case, and if Apple is found guilty the company faces a fine of 10% of its total annual revenue.

For the first time in history, a Chinese probe delivered soil from the far side of the Moon

China's Chang'e 6 probe successfully returned to Earth on Tuesday, bringing back valuable rock and soil samples from the little-explored far side of the moon. The probe, which embarked on its mission on May 3, completed its 53-day journey by drilling into the lunar core and collecting surface rocks. Chinese scientists anticipate that the samples retrieved will provide insight into the geological history of the moon, particularly with volcanic rocks dating back 2.5 million years. This will enable researchers to study the geographical variances between the near and far sides of the moon.

We took this video from WSJ News YouTube Channel.

The quest for lunar exploration has been a fierce competition among nations including the USA, Japan, China, and India. Previous missions by the USA and USSR have gathered samples from the near side of the moon. Chinese President Xi Jinping commended the Chang'e team for their achievement, recognizing it as a significant milestone not only for China but for the global community. The nation has set ambitious goals to send astronauts to the moon by 2030 and establish a research facility at the lunar south pole - an area rich in water ice resources, also targeted by the US for future exploration efforts.