Elon Musk finally owns Twitter now. While Twitter’s users are still parsing what that means for them, we’ve got a general idea: laxer content moderation, fewer people keeping the lights on, and maybe the eventual addition of “everything app” features like payments and reservations for services. But the standard Twitter app isn’t the only platform whose future Musk now controls. Over the past three years, Twitter Inc. has also been funding a decentralized social networking project called Bluesky — and it finally seems close to bearing fruit. But under Twitter’s new leadership, with its original champions gone, its future prospects seem shaky.
Motional and Lyft will launch a robotaxi service in Los Angeles
Motional, the autonomous vehicle joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv, is bringing its robotaxis to Los Angeles, where they will be available to hail via the Lyft app.
The service is comprised of Motional’s fleet of Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric vehicles, which will be fully autonomous at the time of launch and do not require a human safety driver behind the wheels.
The company would not say when exactly the service will go live, though. “We plan to reveal the timing when we are closer to launch,” a Motional spokesperson said. Previously, Motional said it wouldn’t deploy fully autonomous vehicles until 2023, so it’s probably safe to assume that LA residents won’t be able to hail one of the company’s vehicles until at least January.
LA will be Motional and Lyft’s second market after launching a robotaxi service in Las Vegas earlier this year. Motional says that when the service goes live, it will be “the first time that residents in Los Angeles can request an autonomous vehicle in the Lyft app.”
LA will be Motional and Lyft’s second market, after launching a robotaxi service in Las Vegas earlier this year.
Still, Motional will need to get all of its permits in order before accepting passengers into their vehicles. California requires AV companies to obtain a series of permits from the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Utilities Commission before they are legally approved to ferry passengers and accept money for trips.
“Motional has applied for a permit with the