Uber said Wednesday (March 5) that it is now offering rides in autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas, and will later do the same in Atlanta.Riders who opt in for this offering on the Uber app in Austin could be matched with an autonomous vehicle from Waymo, Uber said in a Wednesday press release.“With Waymo’s technology and Uber’s proven platform, we’re excited to introduce our customers to a future of transportation that is increasingly electric and autonomous,” Uber said in the release.Riders who request an UberX, Uber Green, Comfort or Comfort Electric could be matched with one of Waymo’s fully autonomous Jaguar I-PACE vehicles, according to the release.Before the vehicle is sent to pick them up, riders will have the option to accept the autonomous vehicle or request a ride with a driver, the release said.When a Waymo vehicle arrives, riders can use the Uber app to unlock the vehicle, open the trunk and start the trip, per the release. They will be able to access customer service at any time through the app or inside the vehicle.The autonomous vehicle rides will cover 37 square miles in Austin, according to the release. The companies plan to expand this range in the future.“Atlanta is up next,” the release said. “Employees are already taking fully autonomous trips with Waymo in the city, a key step as we prepare to offer Waymo rides to the public there — only on Uber.”It was reported in January that Uber and rival ridesharing company Lyft were both reinvesting in driverless cars after having abandoned the technology earlier.The Jan. 6 Wall Street Journal report said that both companies were responding to signs that driverless technology could be about to blossom outside of a handful of “experimental markets.”It was also reported in January that Waymo plans to test its vehicles — with a driver behind the wheel — in 10 new cities in 2025 so that it can see how its self-driving vehicles adapt to the traffic patterns, road design, weather conditions and other factors in different cities.In Waymo’s core markets of San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles, the vehicles have already driven millions of miles

Hyundai has launched a partnership with autonomous vehicle/robot delivery firm Avride. The collaboration will focus on the development of autonomous vehicles equipped with Avride’s driving system, while also expanding Avride’s fleet of Hyundai IONIQ 5 vehicles, according to a Wednesday (March 5) announcement on Avride’s blog. “Our team has been working with Hyundai Motor Group since 2019, and we value the professionalism and collaboration that have defined this partnership,” Avride CEO Dmitry Polishchuk said in the announcement

Amazon has launched Alexa+, an artificial intelligence assistant aimed at integrating into users’ lives with the capability to entertain, organize, converse, place orders, book tickets, provide travel. inspiration and more.Major travel brands including Tripadvisor and Uber have partnered with Amazon for the debut of its next-generation voice assistant. “With 600 million Alexa devices now out in the world, the latest advancements in generative AI have unlocked new possibilities—enabling us to reimagine the experience in our pursuit of making customers’ lives better and easier every day,” said Panos Panay,