/
Navigation
C
Chronicles
Browse all articles
C
E
Explore
Semantic exploration
E
R
Research
Entity momentum
R
N
Nexus
Correlations & relationships
N
~
Story Arc
Topic evolution
S
Drift Map
Semantic trajectory animation
D
P
Posts
Analysis & commentary
P
Browse
@
Entities
Companies, people, products, technologies
Domains
Browse by publication source
Handles
Browse by social media handle
Detection
?
Concept Search
Semantic similarity search
!
High Impact Stories
Top coverage by position
+
Sentiment Analysis
Positive/negative coverage
*
Anomaly Detection
Unusual coverage patterns
Analysis
vs
Rivalry Report
Compare two entities head-to-head
/\
Semantic Pivots
Narrative discontinuities
!!
Crisis Response
Event recovery patterns
Connected
Nav: C E R N
Search: /
Command: ⌘K
Embeddings: large
VOICE ARCHIVE

David Zipper

@davidzipper
34 posts
2025-12-03
“There's a public health imperative to quickly expand the adoption of autonomous vehicles.”  —  Would the author say the same about building bike lanes?  Installing automatic traffic cameras?  Requiring Intelligent Speed Assist?  —  All of those are proven to save lives — and at a fraction of AVs' cost.
2025-12-03 View on X
New York Times

An analysis of Waymo data covering nearly 100M driverless miles in four US cities: Waymo cars have far lower crash rates per million miles than human drivers

I recently got called to see a teenager ejected in a rollover car crash.  The trauma team rushed him into surgery to stop major abdominal bleeding, but we all knew.

2025-03-19
Robotaxi execs and policymakers often claim autonomous cars are the only way to end the US road safety crisis.  That's BS.  —  There are plenty of proven tactics to cheaply and reliably reduce crashes (road diets, automatic enforcement, bike lanes, etc).  Focus there!  —  www.fastcompany.com/91270760/ way... …
2025-03-19 View on X
Fast Company

A look at Waymo's progress, from Alphabet's “moonshot” project to achieving commercial robotaxi deployment in three US cities in 2024, and its expansion plans

There are plenty of proven tactics to cheaply and reliably reduce crashes (road diets, automatic enforcement, bike lanes, etc).  Focus there!  —  www.fastcompany.com/91270760/ way....

2025-02-21
Also from the story: NHTSA has lost the ability to even try to regulate AV tech.  —  “A small government team regulating the sort of autonomous cars that Elon Musk says represent the future of Tesla, his car company, is getting cut nearly in half.”  —  A win for Musk.  A grave danger for the rest of us.
2025-02-21 View on X
Washington Post

Sources: the US NHTSA is losing ~10% of its workforce via firings and buyout offers, including nearly half of a small team that regulates autonomous vehicles

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is losing about 10 percent of its workforce through firings and buyout offers, according to people briefed on the cuts.

2024-12-11
Cruise is shutting down.  —  GM has pulled its funding.  The company now “seeks to focus autonomous vehicle development on personally owned vehicles.”  —  If you care about the future of cities and climate, GM's plans should send shivers.  —  www.theverge.com/2024/12/10/ 2...
2024-12-11 View on X
Bloomberg

GM says Cruise will exit the robotaxi business, combining Cruise's and GM's technical teams to focus on autonomous and driver safety tech for upcoming GM cars

Cruise and GM's technical teams will be combined into a single effort focused on developing autonomous technology to offer …

Fun fact: GM invested $10 billion in Cruise before pulling the plug.  —  That's more than the federal government will invest in public transit this year in CA, CO, CT, DC, IL, MD, MA, MN, NJ, NY, PA, VA and WA — combined.  —  www.theautopian.com/gm-kills- its...
2024-12-11 View on X
Bloomberg

GM says Cruise will exit the robotaxi business, combining Cruise's and GM's technical teams to focus on autonomous and driver safety tech for upcoming GM cars

Cruise and GM's technical teams will be combined into a single effort focused on developing autonomous technology to offer …

2023-11-07
“Behind the scenes ... Cruise was grappling with its own safety issues around hitting kids with cars.” This is a company that claims it can end the US road safety crisis — if only regulators will let it. https://theintercept.com/... [image]
2023-11-07 View on X
The Intercept

Internal documents: Cruise knew its cars struggled to detect large holes and sometimes had problems recognizing kids, prior to its California permitting crisis

In Phoenix, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Miami, and San Francisco, hundreds of so-called autonomous vehicles, or AVs …

2023-10-28
As I wrote in @Slate, Cruise's crisis raises big ?s: - Can we trust AV companies' data/videos? - Why was the CPUC so bullish on Cruise when the DMV saw huge safety problems? - If Cruise is too dangerous for CA, is it safe enough for other states? https://slate.com/... [image]
2023-10-28 View on X
TechCrunch

Cruise pauses all driverless operations two days after the California DMV suspended its permits, but plans to continue operating supervised autonomous vehicles

maybe as much as 10x. It does not seem surprising that Cruise has had more problems since launching driverlessly. Timothy B. Lee / @binarybits : Waymo announced 20 million miles of...

After losing its California DMV and CPUC robotaxi permits (and being accused of lying to the government), Cruise is halting *all* driverless operations — everywhere. This is an existential moment for the company, and for the entire AV industry.
2023-10-28 View on X
TechCrunch

Cruise pauses all driverless operations two days after the California DMV suspended its permits, but plans to continue operating supervised autonomous vehicles

maybe as much as 10x. It does not seem surprising that Cruise has had more problems since launching driverlessly. Timothy B. Lee / @binarybits : Waymo announced 20 million miles of...

2023-10-27
After losing its California DMV and CPUC robotaxi permits (and being accused of lying to the government), Cruise is halting *all* driverless operations — everywhere. This is an existential moment for the company, and for the entire AV industry.
2023-10-27 View on X
TechCrunch

Cruise pauses all driverless operations two days after the California DMV suspended its permits, but will continue operating supervised autonomous vehicles

Cruise said Thursday evening it has paused all driverless operations, a decision that comes just two days after the California Department …

2023-08-12
In @TheAtlantic, I explained why I welcome the robotaxi uproar in San Francisco. Even if self-driving cars work flawlessly (unlike now), they could be catastrophic for cities and the planet. We should think long and hard before letting them scale. 🧵 https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
2023-08-12 View on X
The Verge

After a contentious public hearing, the California Public Utilities Commission allows Waymo and Cruise to operate driverless cabs 24/7 throughout San Francisco

prompting a vow from angry residents to continue staging traffic cone protests Nadia Bidarian / CNN : Regulators give green light to driverless taxis in San Francisco Shannon Conne...

2023-08-11
In @TheAtlantic, I explained why I welcome the robotaxi uproar in San Francisco. Even if self-driving cars work flawlessly (unlike now), they could be catastrophic for cities and the planet. We should think long and hard before letting them scale. 🧵 https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
2023-08-11 View on X
The Verge

After a contentious public hearing, the California Public Utilities Commission will let Waymo and Cruise operate driverless cabs 24/7 throughout San Francisco

Waymo and Cruise were approved to operate their robotaxi services 24/7 in San Francisco after a contentious six-hour public hearing …

2023-03-20
Not a great sign when your own employees don't think your cars are safe https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
2023-03-20 View on X
Washington Post

As concerns over Tesla's Full Self-Driving rise, former employees blame Elon Musk's erratic leadership, cost-cutting measures like removing radar, and more

Tesla's campaign to deliver a fully autonomous vehicle has suffered amid mounting safety concerns — and the boss's Twitter distraction

2023-03-08
Easy to be numb to Elon news these days, but this story hits hard. The Twitter staffer who asked if he'd been fired is a 45-year old with muscular dystrophy who has numerous awards for charity & disability rights advocacy. He's an Icelandic hero — and “the worst” per Musk. https://twitter.com/...
2023-03-08 View on X
Associated Press

Elon Musk apologizes after mocking laid-off disabled Twitter employee Haraldur Thorleifsson, who joined in 2021 after Twitter acquired his startup Ueno

If you're not told you are fired, are you really fired?  At Twitter, probably.  And then, sometimes, you get your job back — if you want it.

2023-02-16
Strongly recommend this NY Times deep dive w/ Dr. Missy Cummings on AV tech & safety: “[People] are over-trusting the technology. They are letting the cars speed. And they are getting into accidents that are seriously injuring them or killing them.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
2023-02-16 View on X
New York Times

An interview with CS professor and ex-NHTSA adviser Missy Cummings, who says people are “over-trusting” Tesla's Autopilot, GM's Super Cruise, and other systems

Missy Cummings, who spent more than a year at the federal auto safety agency, said that drivers were putting …

2023-01-30
In their new letter to the CPUC, San Francisco leaders say that the city's emergency services were alerted to 92 “unique incidents” regarding robotaxis last year. A “large majority” involved Cruise. Here's a map. https://twitter.com/...
2023-01-30 View on X
NBC News

San Francisco asked California regulators to halt or scale back the expansion of Cruise and Waymo, after repeated incidents with stopped and idle robotaxis

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco is trying to slow the expansion of robotaxis after repeated incidents in which cars without drivers stopped …

SF's letter to CPUC about Cruise is available here: https://www.sfmta.com/... A separate (less damning) letter about Waymo is available here: https://www.sfmta.com/... Both were sent this week. https://twitter.com/...
2023-01-30 View on X
NBC News

San Francisco asked California regulators to halt or scale back the expansion of Cruise and Waymo, after repeated incidents with stopped and idle robotaxis

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco is trying to slow the expansion of robotaxis after repeated incidents in which cars without drivers stopped …

2022-06-09
“American drivers — whether using these [driver assistance] systems or sharing the road with them — are effectively guinea pigs in an experiment whose results have not yet been revealed.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
2022-06-09 View on X
New York Times

Experts say the lack of publicly available data makes it difficult to verify claims by Tesla and others about the safety of their autonomous driving tech

Automakers and technology companies say they are making driving safer, but verifying these claims is difficult. Tweets: @2plus2make5 , @parismarx , @davidzipper , @garymarcus , @no...

2022-03-31
Straight into my veins (but geofencing should be focused on cars, not buses): “It can regulate a [motor] vehicle's speed within the zone, determine whether the vehicle belongs there and automatically switch hybrid vehicles to electric driving mode.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
2022-03-31 View on X
New York Times

A look at geofencing trials in Sweden to regulate commercial and public transport traffic within a zone, determine whether those vehicles belong there, and more

Tanya Mohn / New York Times : Tweets: @visionzeronet , @pkoonce , and @davidzipper Tweets: @visionzeronet : Look at this: We *can* use smart technology for safety & curbing climat...

2022-03-03
Big news in micromobility: Berlin-based Tier has acquired Spin, which was owned by Ford (terms undisclosed). Ford had been the only US car company with a significant micromobility business. https://techcrunch.com/...
2022-03-03 View on X
The Verge

Berlin-based Tier Mobility acquires Spin, Ford's e-scooter unit, in an all-stock deal, for an undisclosed price; Ford acquired Spin in November 2018 for $100M

Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge :

2022-02-02
@NHTSAgov UPDATE: @NHTSAgov has put the kibosh on FSD's “rolling stops.” 53k+ Teslas with FSD are being recalled. Good. https://www.reuters.com/...
2022-02-02 View on X
Associated Press

NHTSA: Tesla will issue an OTA update for 53,822 cars and SUVs to remove an FSD feature that let vehicles roll through stop signs without coming to a halt

and who is not a lobbyist — had to protect his tweets due to bullying, which I guess has sufficiently filled the role of Tesla's disbanded PR department https://apnews.com/... Aaro...