The Download: talking driverless cars, and updated covid vaccines

The news: Self-driving car startup Wayve can now interrogate its vehicles, asking them questions about their driving decisions--and getting answers back thanks to a chatbot. How it works: The idea is to use the same tech behind ChatGPT to help train driverless cars. The company combined its existing self-driving software with a large language model, creating a hybrid model that syncs up video data and driving data with natural-language descriptions that capture what the car sees and what it does. Why it matters: Wayve is treating the news as a breakthrough in AI safety. By quizzing its self-driving software every step of the way, Wayve hopes to understand exactly why and how its cars make certain decisions--and to uncover mistakes more quickly.