Driverless cars are beginning to display human-like behaviors like impatience on the roads, in a sign of increased intelligence in the robotaxis. The chilling development was identified by University of San Francisco engineering Professor William Riggs, who has been studying Waymo cars since their inception. On a journey with a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle, the pair noticed the Waymo they were traveling in crept to a rolling start at a pedestrian crossing before the person had reached the other footpath. The subtle movement was reminiscent of the way humans act behind the wheel, but a strange occurrence for the robotic Waymo, which prides itself on being safer than a driver because it errs on the side of caution and leaves no room for human error. The action of letting the foot gently off the break moments before they should to allow the car to begin creeping forward at a rolling pace displays a sense of impatience - a human reaction not previously seen in the robotic cars.

The Rimac Group describes Verne--its new autonomous ride-hailing service--as its "next impossible thing." First, founder Mate Rimac established his eponymous electric hypercar company in Croatia, a country with no history of carmaking. Porsche, Hyundai and Softbank all took stakes. Rimac Technology now supplies electric drivetrains to Porsche, BMW and Aston Martin, among many others, and it is developing advanced energy storage tech, too. And now there's Verne, Mate's autonomous ride-hailing service launched today in Zagreb, the Croatian capital.

Large-scale commercial operation of highly autonomous vehicles (AVs) could become a reality "sooner than expected" in China, Baidu's CEO Robin Li said on Thursday at the 2022 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. "I think it would take a longer time to commercialize Level 3 autonomous vehicles, because there remain questions about who is liable in the case of accidents involving these vehicles," Li said (our translation). Level 4 vehicles, however, make it clear that the manufacturer or the owner, rather than the driver, is responsible in a crash, Li added. Level 4 refers to a fully autonomous system where vehicles travel from point A to point B without requiring any human intervention. In Level 3, also called the semi-autonomous level, the driver is still required to take over the vehicle in emergencies, according to definitions set by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

Zoox, a self-driving car company that Amazon bought in June, has finally revealed its robotaxi after six years of gnarly prototypes and secrecy. And while it broadly resembles other first-generation autonomous vehicles from automakers and Silicon Valley startups, Zoox's robotaxi has a few standout features, as well as an overall polish to it that makes obvious why Amazon thinks it might be the cornerstone of a fledgling autonomous ride-hailing service. The autonomous "carriage-style" vehicle is an all-electric four-wheeler that seats up to four people, and is similar in appearance to fully self-driving vehicles created by other companies in the space. At just 3.63 meters long, it falls somewhere in between the big, boxy Origin robotaxi from Cruise (which is owned by General Motors) and the delivery-focused robot made by Nuro. To further differentiate, Zoox has spent the last few years working on outfitting its autonomous vehicle with the ability to drive both forward and backward, and side to side, or "bi-directionally." Combined with four-wheel steering functionality, Zoox says its vehicle will be able to handle precise maneuvers like "tight curbside pickups" and "tricky U-turns."

Intel-owned company Mobileye has teamed up with Volkswagen to launch an autonomous EV ride-hailing service in its native country of Israel. Their joint venture called "New Mobility" will use electric Volkswagen vehicles powered by Mobileye's Level 4 autonomous driving system "AV Kit." A third partner, Israeli VW distributor Champion Motors, will manage the service's fleet and logistics. The Israeli government has promised to provide the venture with the regulatory and infrastructure support it needs, so the companies might not have to worry about dealing with red tape and bureaucracy. Intel purchased Israel-based Mobileye, which helped Tesla develop its Autopilot technology until they parted ways, for $15.3 billion in 2017.

Drive.ai's autonomous ride-hailing service has launched in Frisco, Texas, providing transportation between Hall Park offices and The Star. The company announced in May that the service was on the way, and while a safety driver will be present in the vehicle at launch, Drive.ai plans to transition to a passenger seat chaperone and then passenger-only rides going forward. "Today is the exciting start to our on-demand ride service, which we hope will benefit a community and increase understanding of and confidence in self-driving technology," the company said in a blog post today. Drive.ai said that it has not only spent the last few months collecting data on its geofenced route in Frisco, but it has also logged over one million simulated miles along the route. "Simulations are a major component of our approach to self-driving, as running comprehensive simulations improves our vehicles' ability to foresee and handle a wider variety of driving scenarios -- those that are common, and those that are less so," said the company.

Texas is no stranger to self-driving car tests, but actual service? AI startup Drive.ai is launching the state's first autonomous ride-hailing service in Frisco this July in a pilot program with support from both the city and the Hall Group. Instead, the company's vans will drive on public roads between Hall Park offices and The Star to help workers get to dining and shopping that's too far to walk, but a waste to drive. Rides will be free during the six-month test period. There will initially be a safety driver ready to take over.

Waymo, formerly known as Google's self-driving car, is launching a fully autonomous Uber-like ride-hailing service with no human driver behind the wheel, after testing the vehicles on public roads in Arizona. Waymo, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet, said members of the public will begin riding in its fleet of modified Fiat Chrysler Pacifica minivans outfitted with self-driving technology in the next few months. Passengers will initially be accompanied in the back seat by a Waymo employee, but will eventually travel alone in the robotic car. The service will first be available to those who are already part of the company's public trial already under way in Phoenix. Rides will be free to start with, but Waymo expects to begin charging for journeys at some point.

Ford announced Wednesday it will partner with Lyft to deploy autonomous cars. Lyft's agreement with Ford adds the automaker to the ride-hailing service's current list of car companies it's teaming up with for self-driving technology. The partnership will "help both companies progress toward a more affordable, dependable and accessible transportation future," Ford said in a blog post. The announcement comes after Ford promised last December to offer a fully autonomous vehicle for ride-sharing and ride-hailing services by 2021. The company gave a glimpse of its next generation Fusion Hybrid self-driving car at the time.