Volkswagen Group has ended a partnership with Aurora Innovation, the autonomy startup founded by former Google self-driving head Chris Urmson, as was first reported by the Financial Times. Aurora was supposed to provide Volkswagen with a full tech stack it calls the “Driver,” which would enable completely autonomous cars, not a driver assistance system (like what’s available on Audi’s cars).
Volkswagen was one of Aurora’s first customers. The two companies announced the deal at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, though they had been working together for at least a year before that. The deal was supposed to end this June, according to two people familiar with the terms, and Volkswagen declined to sign a new one.
To keep its self-driving efforts moving forward, Volkswagen is reportedly pursuing a new deal with Ford-backed startup Argo AI. Volkswagen and Ford announced a “global alliance” in January that’s centered on trucks and vans, though both companies said collaborations on electric and autonomous vehicles were possible. Volkswagen was also rumored to be investing nearly $2 billion in Argo earlier this year, though no deal has gone through. (It also reportedly tried to buy Aurora last year.)
Read more >> https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/11/18661517/vw-amazon-ford-self-driving-car-startup-funding
