A startup company called Ghost has raised $100 million Series D financing, fueling the development of its autonomous driving system that features what it describes as "a revolutionary breakthrough in crash prevention". Returning investors Sutter Hill Ventures and Founders Fund participated in the round, along with a new commitment from Coatue. Ghost was founded in 2017 with the belief that driving should not be dangerous. Despite all the technology and features included in modern cars, cars still crash – accidents and fatalities are going up, not down. Even semi-autonomous and fully autonomous vehicles struggle to recognize and avoid every potential obstacle on the road, instead relying on human intervention to handle edge cases and prevent crashes.

Self-driving cars have countless obstacles to contend with on the road, chiefly drivers who don't always act predictably -- or responsibly. There's inclement precipitation and wind to worry about, plus jaywalking pedestrians and zippy electric bikes and scooters. That's not to mention alleyways and busy intersections that no amount of Google Maps data can elucidate. Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that Ghost Locomotion, a stealthy startup headed by former Yahoo CTO and Pure Storage cofounder John Hayes, isn't tackling a full stack autonomous car platform just yet. Instead, it's honing in on the task that constitutes two-thirds of all miles driven in the U.S.: highway driving.