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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Thursday 20 december 2018
Need some milk? Driverless cars start delivering groceries

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ Waymo, a self-driving car
AP Business Writer spinoff from a Google proj-
The nation's largest grocery ect, has been offering free
chain stepped into the driv- rides in robotic vehicles with
erless delivery market Tues- no backup driver as part of
day, bringing milk, eggs a test program in the Phoe-
and other items to a cus- nix area for the past year.
tomer's home in a vehicle Earlier this month, Waymo
with nobody at the wheel. launched a ride-hailing
Although limited to deliver- service available to about
ing within about a mile (1.5 200 people that will have a
kilometers) of one Arizona person behind the wheel in
supermarket owned by case something goes awry.
Kroger Co., it represents the Giannonatti of Kroger said
latest step for industries try- safety is paramount in this
ing to lower delivery costs of next step of autonomous
everyday items and those vehicle technology.
trying to launch self-driving Because Nuro's R1 deliv-
cars on public roads. This undated image provided by The Kroger Co. shows an autonomous vehicle called the R1. ery vehicle is unmanned,
Tuesday's delivery arrived Associated Press it was designed to prioritize
at Shannon Baggett's safety of other drivers and
house in the Phoenix sub- than I thought it would be," the R1 will travel within a phased out, Ferguson said. pedestrians without trading
urb of Scottsdale. She was Baggett said. "I told my 1-mile (1.5-kilometer) radius "This is not yet at the point off the safety or comfort of
already receiving grocer- husband, 'We just got our of the Fry's Food store just where in any way it's eco- a driver or passengers, Fer-
ies weekly from larger, groceries delivered by a east of the Phoenix Zoo at nomically better than just guson said. The vehicle's
manned self-driving vehi- robot.'" speeds up to 25 miles per sending someone out in size — half the width of a
cles that the company Nuro But Tuesday's launch hour (40 kph) on residential a car to deliver your gro- Toyota Corolla — also helps
developed and launched also highlighted some of roads but stay clear of main ceries," said Bryant Walker prevent collisions with pe-
in August. She said it was the many challenges still roads or highways, accord- Smith, a professor at the destrians because there's
surreal to see nobody in the ahead for autonomous ve- ing to Pam Giannonatti, University of South Caro- more buffer room, he said.
car bringing her milk, eggs hicles: One of the compact corporate affairs manag- lina, who teaches about Kroger has been working to
and strawberries. cars didn't drive as planned er at Cincinnati-based emerging technologies. boost online sales to keep
"It was very cool to see it at a media demonstration Kroger's Fry's division. "It will probably cost much up with Walmart and Ama-
pull up. It was a lot smaller because of a dead battery Customers place an order more, and the range is min- zon, which bought grocer
and had to be pushed up on their smartphone or lap- imal, and there are lots of Whole Foods last year.
a ramp and onto a truck by top and get a text message ways it would not be a true, Tuesday's announcement
several men. when the groceries are on commercial-scale, viable puts Kroger ahead of
Kroger and Nuro, which is their way. Another mes- deployment, but it's an im- Walmart and Amazon in
based in Mountain View, sage will alert them when portant step on that path." self-driving deliveries, says
California, announced the delivery is curbside. Technological hurdles and Jon Reily, vice president
Tuesday that they would Once the vehicle arrives, apprehension have limited of commerce strategy at
deliver groceries in the the customer will receive a attempts to deploy fully au- Publicis.Sapient.
Scottsdale area, using an code to punch in to open tonomous vehicles on pub- "But ultimately," he says,
autonomous vehicle called the doors, Giannonatti said. lic streets. "there are so many chal-
the R1, which has no steer- Customers will pay a flat fee Uber pulled its self-driving lenges with autonomous
ing wheel and no seats for of $5.95 and can request cars out of Arizona this year vehicles" to make it a real-
people. same-day or next-day de- after one of the ride-hailing ity nationwide.
Nuro will be adding two of livery. The unmanned de- service's robotic vehicles Among them: state laws
its completely unmanned livery vehicles will be fol- hit and killed a woman as and weather. Arizona's
R1 vehicles to its fleet of lowed by a "shadow car," she crossed a darkened laws have been friend-
manned self-driving ve- driven by a person with the street in a Phoenix suburb in lier to self-driving vehicles,
hicles that deliver grocer- ability to stop or control it. March. It was the first death and the weather in Scott-
ies, said Dave Ferguson, This car is being used in the involving a fully autono- sdale is more predictable
president and co-founder early stages of the program mous vehicle. A backup than in other parts of the
of Nuro. When summoned, out of caution and will be driver was at the wheel. country.q

D.C. sues Facebook over Cambridge

Analytica privacy scandal

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Facebook misled users of users' Facebook friends opers access.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The about the security of their and the information was "We're seeking to hold
District of Columbia sued data and failed to properly eventually sold to Cam- Facebook accountable for
Facebook on Wednesday monitor third-party apps. bridge Analytica, a politi- jeopardizing and exposing
for allowing data-mining In 2013, a researcher cal consulting firm. the personal information of
firm Cambridge Analytica launched a Facebook app, After the revelations about tens of millions of its users,"
to improperly access data promoted as a personal- Cambridge Analytica, Rancine said on a confer-
from as many as 87 million ity quiz, which claimed to congressional hearings ence call with reporters.
users. generate a personality pro- were held and Facebook "We hope this lawsuit will
D.C. Attorney General Karl file. The app also collected changed what sorts of ensure Facebook takes
Racine's suit alleges that the personal information data it lets outside devel- better care with its data."q