Autonomous Vehicle: Aurora Truck, GM Flying Car, Uber Robot

Self-driving startup Aurora has announced a partnership with PacCar to build and deploy autonomous trucks. It is Aurora’s first commercial application in trucking, and the company says it will combine its engineering teams around an “accelerated development program” to create driverless-capable trucks starting with the Peterbilt 479 and the Kenworth T680. (VentureBeat, Aroged)

General Motors (GM) has presented a futuristic flying Cadillac — a self-driving vehicle which takes off and lands vertically and carries the passenger above the streets and through the air. The single-passenger Cadillac — technically, a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone — will be able to travel from urban rooftop to urban rooftop at speeds up to 55 miles/hour. (Gizmo China, Reuters, Sina)

Postmates X, the robotics division of the on-demand delivery startup that Uber acquired in 2020 for USD2.65B, is seeking investors in its bid to become a separate company. The startup is being referred to as Serve Robotics, a nod to the yellow and black-emblazoned autonomous sidewalk delivery bot that was developed and piloted by Postmates X. The Serve robot, which recently partnered with Pink Dot Stores for deliveries in West Hollywood, will likely be the centerpiece of the new startup. (CN Beta, TechCrunch, Fool)