 |
|
|
|||||
Before Waymo was Waymo, it was Googles self-driving car project. Starting in 2009, the effort spent many years in test modewith humans in the drivers seats ready to take over, just in casethat its vision of vehicular autonomy often felt far from practical reality. Since last year, however, Alphabets robotaxi service has begun to scale up quickly. Its now fully open to the public in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area. And today the company is announcing that its testing fully autonomous trips, sans human driver, in Miami, and plans to do so in Orlando, Florida; Dallas; Houston; and San Antonio in the coming weeks. For now, the only passengers will be Waymo employees. But the news is one of the final big milestones before the company offers rides to the public in those five cities, which it says it expects to do next year once all the necessary logistics are in place. In most of the cities, Waymo began driving with an in-car supervisor late last May. (Remote human monitoring and control remain part of the system in all service areas.) By autonomy standards, taking the human out of the drivers seat in five cities over such a short period is a one-fell-swoop sort of move. According to Waymo Chief Product Officer Saswat Panigrahi, the 10 million driverless rides the company has already completed helped it reach this point. Having dealt with high-speed roads in Phoenix and very narrow corridors in San Francisco, L.A. was faster, he told me. Austin was faster than that. Atlanta was faster than that. So this is just the next step. The five cities that are part of todays announcement represent only a portion of those where Waymo has announced its intention to add service. Seven moreDenver, Detroit, Las Vegas, London, Nashville, San Diego, and Washington, D.C.are coming soon but not yet ready to do without a human driver aboard. Yet another sevenBoston, Buffalo, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Tokyoare in an earlier stage, where the company is driving and collecting data. Thats a lot of places that are at least partway down the road to being Waymo cities. Each is different when it comes to their roads and the challenges they present. As Panigrahi notes, even specific intersections can present idiosyncrasies that the companys Waymo Driver platform must map out individually. But he says that localities that might at first blush seem quite different can boil down to similar problems for the Waymo Driver to solve. You can imagine how when we’re serving the civic center in San Francisco, [after] a Warriors game, he says. It’s not that dissimilar to a whole host of pedestrians coming from the beach and crossing over in Miami Beach. Panigrahi adds that Waymo highway drivingwhich came to Los Angeles, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area last week, after years of anticipationshould also scale up to new markets more quickly. Highway is a super hard technical problem, and that’s why we took our time to build it and validate it over multiple years, he says. But once you do get that, then the highways do look much more similar across states. There are more nuances in surface streets. Waymos time as the only company offering a fully commercialized robotaxi service in the U.S. may be winding down. When I tried Teslas robotaxi service last month in San Francisco, a human attendant was in the drivers seat, greatly reducing the amazingness of the experience. But Tesla plans to offer truly autonomous rides to the public by the end of this year, at least in Austin. Earlier this month, the company said that it also plans to deploy robotaxis in Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, and Phoenix, portending eventual head-to-head competition with Waymo in all those areas. Tesla also says it intends to begin mass production of its two-seater Cybercab in April and is rethinking its original plan to remove the drivers seat and steering wheel altogether. Meanwhile, Amazon-owned Zoox just announced that its begun Zoox Explorers robotaxi service in San Francisco. That means its allowing waitlisted members of the public into its app and giving them free rides in return for feedback. Zoox is already in Explorers mode in Las Vegas. Should a critical mass of American cities grow thick with driverless Waymo, Zoox, and Tesla robotaxis, it might turn autonomy from a futuristic novelty into mundane workaday transportation. That exposure could boost the technologys reputation, which still isnt great among people who havent been for a ride. For example, a February AAA study reported that only 13% of respondents said they trusted self-driving vehicles. In Waymos home turf of San Francisco, its cars are omnipresent and public attitude toward self-driving vehicles has been on the rise. Yet the recent death of a bodega cat who was struck by one of its vehicles sparked more of an uproar than the hundreds of animals who are killed by human drivers in the city each year. Waymos own data, based on 96 million passenger-only miles its cars have driven, shows its record is dramatically safer than that of humans. For instance, cars have been in 92% fewer crashes that caused pedestrian injuries. Panigrahi argues that merely seeing Waymos driving carefully reassures pedestrians and cyclists. After theyve taken a trip in one, its a lot harder to hate them. (In August, The Information wrote that 99% of the 69% of its subscribers whod been in a self-driving car were satisfied with the experience.) Pedestrians notice that we stop to give them that confidence that they can cross and not play a game of chicken, he says. Even skeptical or on-the-fence folks, once they take their first ride, that magical experience changes their heart.
Category:
E-Commerce
The most anticipated quarterly earnings of the month will be announced on Wednesday, November 19, as AI chip giant Nvidia Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) reveals financial results for its 2026 fiscal third quarter. A lot is riding on these resultsand not just for Nvidia. Investors are increasingly on edge about a possible AI bubble, and if Nvidia posts good or better than expected earnings, it could give those investors faith that AI infrastructure is on solid ground and has plenty of room to grow. But if Nvidias earnings disappointor show signs of upcoming weaknessit could spell bad news not just for NVDA stock, but for the stock prices of all companies operating in the AI space. Here is what Nvidia has previously forecast for its Q3 2026, and what investors are expecting when the company releases its earnings results tomorrow after markets close. Nvidias Q3 2026 guidance On August 27, Nvidia announced its Q2 2026 results. That same day, the company released its forecast for the quarter that it is currently operating in. Here is what the company said it expected for its Q3 2026, which ran from July 28 to October 26: Revenue: $54 billion (plus or minus 2%) GAAP gross margins: 73.3% (plus or minus 50 basis points) Non-GAAP gross margins: 73.5% (plus or minus 50 basis points) GAAP operating expenses: approximately $5.9 billion Non-GAAP operating expenses: approximately $4.2 billion Heres what analysts are expecting from Nvidias Q3 2026 Nvidias estimates above are the best guess the company had for its Q3 based on the data it had at the time, which in this case was in August. But analysts calculate their own estimates, which fluctuate as the quarter progresses and additional data is assessed. Thats why analyst estimates will typically not entirely align with what a company has forecast. Also, nearly every individual analyst will have a different estimate. These estimates are often pooled to produce a consensus figure, and yet even those consensus figures will differ depending on what analysts are included. The number that analysts usually care most about is revenue. Nvidia forecast its Q3 2026 revenue to come in at $54 billion plus or minus 2%, which would equate to a range of roughly $52.9 billion to $55 billion. Heres what analysts are expecting: CNBC reports that LSEG analysts expect revenue of $54.9 billion. Investors Business Daily (IBD) says analysts polled by FactSet expect revenue of $54.8 billion. Yahoo Finance says Bloomberg consensus data shows analysts expect revenue of $55.2 billion. What this means for NVDA and AI as a whole As you can see, three separate analyst roundups show that Wall Street expects Nvidia to come in at the high end of its $52.9 billion to $55 billion Q3 revenue estimate. That means that if Nvidia doesnt meet these lofty expectations, investors could get spooked and the stock could drop. But a miss in these revenue estimates could also add fuel to the fire over growing concerns that the AI sector is in a bubble. And if Nvidias results fuel bubble fears, the companys earnings could have an adverse knock-on effect on the stock prices of other companies operating in the space. How have AI-related stocks been performing? Nvidia’s shares have been strong so far in 2025. As of yesterdays close, the stock is up more than 38% for the year. And back in October, Nvidia made history when its share price rose to as high as $212, making Nvidia the worlds first public company ever to be valued at $5 trillion. But since then, the companys stock has fallen almost 10%. In the run-up to its Q3 earnings tomorrow, investors are hoping that strong results will mean that NVDA shares can make back some of those losses. Most of the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks (Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla) are down over the last five days, as is the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite.
Category:
E-Commerce
Each year after Thanksgiving, people flock to TikTok to show off the elaborate sandwiches they build out of their holiday meal leftovers. The ritual, going strong for at least four years now, is often paired with a viral audio clip from the quintessential ’90s sitcom Friends describing the perfect sandwich made out of holiday leftovers. The sandwich, starring an extra slice of gravy-soaked bread in the middle, is known as the moist maker. This Thanksgiving, Heinzmaker of ubiquitous and inoffensive condiments like ketchup and mustardis escalating matters considerably by introducing a squeeze bottle gravy designed to engineer the ultimate Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich. The squeeze bottle, labeled leftover gravy, actually comes empty in a special kit paired with a jar of Heinz turkey gravy and instructions that quote the Friends episode. The limited edition kit will be for sale through Walmart.com. A social media favorite among millennial sitcom-lovers, the Moist Maker epitomized an obsession with holiday food crafted with care and detail, Heinz Associate Director of Brand Communications Jamie Mack said in a press release, adding that the gimmick is a celebration of fans who share an irrational love of the moist maker. The concept of squeeze bottle gravy prompts many further lines of inquiry. Heinz already sells a surprisingly diverse array of jarred gravies with flavors like caramelized onion and thyme (for the adventurous) and regular turkey gravy for traditionalists who wont be cooking a gigantic hunk of poultry for hours and savoring its juices the old fashioned way. While the jars make sense, does a squeeze bottle really add any convenience? Would anyone try it? Is the gravy cold? The TV moment, from 1998s fittingly titled Friends episode The one with Ross’s sandwich, is capped off by Ross discovering that his boss keeps eating his sandwiches at work, including his prized moist maker, and absolutely crashing out. [Image: Heinz] FoodTok trends Brands hot on the trail of food-related TikTok trends is nothing new. Food and cooking are extremely popular enduring topics on TikTok, regularly launching micro-trends, viral one dish meals, horrifying products, dubious historical recipes, and massive content categories. Like all things on TikTok, these trends come and go quickly (mini pancake cereal, we miss you), but videos that hop on a food trend at the right time can easily rack up millions of views and a ton of engagementa tempting prize for any brand trying to stay relevant. While Gen Z generally powers TikToks viral food scene, Heinz says its gravy stunt is aimed squarely at a generation thats old enough to have watched Friends as the show aired. According to Heinz, the new condiment is aimed at the growing demographic of millennial hosts who are redefining holiday traditions. And redefine them you will, if you invite squeezable gravy to mingle with your precious post-Thanksgiving leftovers. Heinz isnt the first brand to hop on the gravy train. Last year, the upscale kitchen store Williams Sonoma posted its own version of the moist maker. Kings Hawaiian bread company, maker of excellent rolls for Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches, did too. The grocery chain Kroger was even earlier to the trend, quizzing its audience on the audio clip of Ross describing his sisters culinary flash of genius back in 2022. The TikTok account cooking panda appears to have originally uploaded the sound in 2021, juxtaposing the Friends clip with video of a moist makers step-by-step construction process and racking up 1.7 million likes in the process. Heinz might not be early to the moist maker trendnow ancient by TikTok standardsbut what it lacks in timeliness it plans to compensate for with sheer commitment to the bit.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||