The governor noted that, under a 2012 law, the state's Department of Motor Vehicles collaborates with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, California Highway Patrol and other relevant bodies "to determine the regulations necessary for the safe operation of autonomous vehicles on public roads.” Newsom added that the DMV is committed to making sure rules keep up with the pace of evolving autonomous vehicle tech. "DMV continuously monitors the testing and operations of autonomous vehicles on California roads and has the authority to suspend or revoke permits as necessary to protect the public's safety," his veto message reads.

Newsom, who has a reputation for being friendly to the tech industry, reportedly faced pressure within his administration not to sign the bill. The state's Office of Business and Economic Development warned that the proposed law would lead to companies that are working on self-driving tech to move out of California.

On the other hand, as The Associated Press notes, California Labor Federation head Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher estimates that not requiring human drivers in trucks would cost around 250,000 jobs. “We will not sit by as bureaucrats side with tech companies, trading our safety and jobs for increased corporate profits," Fletcher, who called autonomous trucks dangerous, said in a statement. "We will continue to fight to make sure that robots do not replace human drivers and that technology is not used to destroy good jobs.”

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When someone in Phoenix requests an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric ride, they may be matched with a Waymo vehicle if they’re in the service area and there’s one available. Users will be able to request a ride with a human driver if they’re matched with a Waymo but don’t want to travel in a robotaxi. Alternatively, those eager to try a Waymo ride can set up their ride preferences to make it more likely that they’ll match with an autonomous vehicle.

As with any other ride, users will see the price of a Waymo trip up front. They’ll pay the same as an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric fare. When a Waymo vehicle shows up, you can unlock it by tapping a prompt in the Uber app. Once you're inside and ready to go, tap another button to start the ride. You’ll still have access to Uber support staff at any time too.

“Today is an important step in our journey to bring safe, reliable autonomous driving technology to the Uber platform,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a blog post. “Looking ahead, we expect that the number of human drivers and AVs on the Uber platform will continue to grow, side by side, for quite a long time as we continue to scale a hybrid, global network that combines both.”

Waymo has been offering autonomous rides in Phoenix since 2020, but the Uber partnership will likely see many more people trying them out for the first time. Even so, Waymo says its vehicles already carry out more than 10,000 trips every week in the Metro Phoenix area.

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At the same time, yesterday Cruise released its own third-party findings regarding the accident, which took place on October 2 and involved another vehicle (a Nissan). The company said it "failed to live up to the justifiable expectations of regulators and the communities we serve… [and] also fell woefully short of our own expectations," adding that it's "fully cooperating" with investigators. According to its own findings, that's an understatement to say the least.

According to the report, Cruise withheld crucial information from officials during a briefing the day after the accident. Specifically, the company failed to mention that its autonomous vehicle (AV) had dragged the victim 20 feet at around 7 MPH, causing serious injuries. According to the internal report, that occurred because the vehicle mistakenly detected a side (rather than a frontal) collision and attempted to pull over rather than stopping.

At least 100 Cruise employees, including members of senior leadership, legal and others, were aware of the dragging incident — but failed to disclose it during October 3 meetings with the San Francisco Mayor's Office, NHTSA, DMV and other officials, the report states.

The company said it intended to let a video of the dragging incident speak for itself, then answer questions about it. However, the video didn't play clearly and fully due to internet connection issues, and then Cruise employees failed to verbally affirm the pullover maneuver and dragging of the pedestrian. In case that's not bad enough, the third-party findings state:

The report says the failings came about due to "poor leadership, mistakes in judgment, lack of coordination, an 'us versus them' mentality with regulators, and a fundamental misapprehension of Cruise’s obligations of accountability and transparency to the government and the public."

Prior to the crash, Cruise was facing other problems with its autonomous vehicles (AVs) failing to recognize children and the frequency with which human operators took control. According to former CEO Vogt, human drivers needed to intervene in trips every four to five miles.

Cruise had its license to operate suspended in California back in October. The company also laid off 24 percent of its workforce late last year, following the resignation of co-founder Daniel Kan and the departure of its CEO Kyle Vogt. On top of the two federal investigations, the company is also facing a lawsuit from the city of San Francisco.

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