DEARBORN, Mich., JULY 21, 2021 – In an industry-first collaboration, Argo AI, Lyft and Ford Motor Company are working together to commercialize autonomous ride hailing at scale. The unique collaboration brings together all of the parts necessary to create a viable autonomous ride hailing service, including the self-driving technology, vehicle fleet and transportation network needed to support a scalable business and deliver an exceptional experience for riders. "This collaboration marks the first time all the pieces of the autonomous vehicle puzzle have come together this way," Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Green said. "Each company brings the scale, knowledge and capability in their area of expertise that is necessary to make autonomous ride-hailing a business reality." As vehicles are deployed, Lyft users within the defined service areas will be able to select a Ford self-driving vehicle to hail a ride.

Frederick Mutual Insurance Company has signed a commercial agreement with Betterview – a start-up that develops solutions for the property insurance market – to leverage the latter's AI-powered property risk management platform. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Through the agreement, Frederick Mutual will utilize Betterview's property analytics to enhance the lifecycle of its policies – from loss control and underwriting to claims and catastrophe response. Betterview's platform is used by personal lines and commercial lines carriers to identify and score roofing conditions, as well as other related property risks. The start-up makes this possible through the use of machine learning and computer vision to analyze aircraft and satellite imagery.

Google has been forced to open up Android to rival search engines and applications in Russia, after settling a two-year battle with competition authorities for 439m roubles (£6.2m). The deal sets a new precedent for Google, which until now has resisted permitting the pre-installation of rival search engines and certain applications on to the world's most popular operating system. In 2015, Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) ruled that the Android-maker was breaking the law and abusing its dominant position through restrictions on third-party manufacturers, fining Google 438m rubles (£6.2m) in August 2016. The FAS said that Google will no longer demand exclusivity of its applications on Android devices sold in Russia and will not restrict the pre-installation of rival search engines and other applications. Google will also develop a tool allowing users to choose the default search engine on new and existing Android devices, a similar measure put in place by Microsoft for browser choice on Windows following antitrust action by the European Commission.