As it advances its mission to make the world's streets and roadways safe, accessible, and useful for all, Argo AI announced today it has established the Argo Safety Advisory Council comprising top experts and industry leaders in the fields of transportation, medicine, law enforcement, and cybersecurity. The Argo Safety Advisory Council will provide external strategic counsel on Argo's safety and security practices and policies, including feedback on maintaining a world-class safety culture, earning public trust in autonomous vehicles, scaling safely across multiple cities and countries, and responsibly launching and operating commercial driverless services. Argo created the Council proactively, further underscoring the company's focus and commitment to bringing autonomous products and services to market safely. "At Argo, our foundational value is safety," said Bryan Salesky, Founder and CEO, Argo AI. "Autonomous vehicles have the potential to profoundly and positively impact transportation safety and accessibility in cities. I am grateful for the Argo Safety Advisory Council to share their collective wisdom and expertise to help Argo realize this goal."

Washington, DC (CNN Business)Tesla has said its latest version of Autopilot, its autonomous driving software, is able to stop at traffic lights. But some Tesla drivers are learning it doesn't just stop at red lights, it appears to slow down for green lights, too. Last Friday, Tesla drivers first reported receiving a software update that included "Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control," which is designed to slowdown and stop the vehicle for visible traffic lights or stop signs. Tesla (TSLA) describes the software as being in "beta," meaning it's unfinished and still officially in testing. It's designed to gradually improve as the artificial intelligence that powers it learns from the data that's being collected as Tesla cars drive on public roads, according to a notification in Tesla vehicles when the system is first activated.

Traffic congestion costs the U.S. economy 121 billion a year, mostly due to lost productivity, and produces about 25 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions, Carnegie Mellon University professor of robotics Stephen Smith told the audience at a White House Frontiers Conference last week. In urban areas, drivers spend 40 percent of their time idling in traffic, he added. The next step is to have traffic signals talk to cars. Pittsburgh is the test bed for Uber's self-driving cars, and Smith's work on AI-enhanced traffic signals that talk with self-driving cars is paving the way for the ultimately fluid and efficient autonomous intersections.