Tag: self driving cars

AI war machines hit the ground running: Marine Corps quietly orders autonomous ground vehicle fleet that can drive itself into combat

The United States Marine Corps has quietly placed its first production order for a fleet of fully autonomous ground vehicles that can navigate battlefields, plot their own routes, and execute resupply missions without a human behind the wheel. This is no longer science fiction. Under a $19.7 million production award issued through the Pentagon’s Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies program, Seattle-based Overland AI will deliver more than a dozen autonomous ground vehicles to the Marine Corps by early 2027, marking the first time a ground autonomy company has served as the prime contractor for a production contract of its kind. While military officials frame this as a logistical upgrade, the deeper implications point toward a future where machines not only drive themselves but eventually decide when and how to kill, and in the most efficient manner possible.

Key points:

  • The Marine Corps has awarded Overland AI a $19.7 million contract for autonomous ground vehicles.
  • Vehicles will operate without continuous human control using onboard navigation software.
  • First operational role focuses on resupply missions for the Marine Air Defense Integrated System.
  • Overland AI CEO Byron Boots confirmed extremely high demand from U.S. operational units.
  • Autonomous platforms could expand into intelligence, surveillance, and breaching missions.
  • Contract delivered through Pentagon APFIT program designed to accelerate battlefield technology.
  • Vehicles use open architecture allowing integration with Joint Light Tactical Vehicle platforms.

When machines decide where to go

What separates Overland AI’s platform from previous unmanned ground vehicles is the degree of independence these machines possess. Traditional robotic vehicles require a remote operator to steer, accelerate, and brake, essentially a video game controller attached to a military vehicle. Overland AI’s system operates differently. Operators assign a destination point, and the onboard software handles everything else. The vehicle plans its own route, interprets terrain conditions, controls acceleration and braking, and navigates obstacles without continuous human input. Personnel can still assume remote control when necessary, but the default mode is machine autonomy.

This represents a fundamental shift in military robotics. The Marine Corps is no longer testing remote-controlled equipment. It is buying vehicles that make driving decisions on their own. Overland AI Chief Executive Officer Byron Boots stated that demand for autonomous ground systems has increased sharply as militaries evaluate lessons from recent conflicts. “Ground autonomy matters now more than ever,” Boots said. “We’re registering extremely high demand from U.S. operational units who want to incorporate this technology into their concepts of operation.”

The company expects to deliver the vehicles in roughly nine months, though officials did not disclose the exact number of platforms or technical specifications including payload capacity and vehicle type. This opacity is deliberate. The military does not want adversaries knowing how many autonomous systems are entering the battlefield or what they are capable of carrying.

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Doll-Heads Apparently Fooling Tesla FSD. Is Facial-Recognition Update Next?

Chinese e-commerce platforms are selling miniature heads that, according to Fred Lambert at the EV blog Electrek, are being used to “trick Tesla’s cabin camera into thinking a driver is paying attention.”

Priced at $20 to $50 and marketed as dashboard decorations or “travel companions,” these miniature heads are mounted near the rearview mirror to mimic a human face while Autopilot or Full Self-Driving is engaged.

via Instagram user “decentmiss_” … 

While FSD is engaged, Tesla’s cabin camera monitors driver attentiveness, including whether the driver repeatedly looks away from the road, and issues warnings when attention appears to lapse. Tesla requires increased supervision when FSD is in “Mad Max” or “Hurry” mode.

Videos of the miniature heads recently went viral on social media, suggesting that some users in China are employing them to trick Tesla’s driver-attention safeguards.

Here is Lambert’s first take:

Let me be direct: anyone mounting a fake head to defeat their Tesla’s driver monitoring system is putting their life and the lives of everyone around them at risk. And the sellers profiting from these devices are enabling potentially fatal behavior for $30 a pop.

Over the years, drivers have used various defeat devices, such as counterweights attached to the steering wheel to trick the torque sensor into believing someone was holding it. Tesla countered that workaround with the cabin camera, but now must address the issue of miniature heads.

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Waymo Robotaxi “Snitches” On Two 15-Year-Olds Drinking & Shooting Orbeez Guns In Bay Area

Two 15-year-old boys were detained in San Mateo Monday afternoon after the Waymo robotaxi they were riding in reported them to police – for drinking alcohol and firing a gel-bead blaster out of the moving car – then pulled itself over so officers could collect them.

Waymo’s remote monitors spotted the behavior on the vehicle’s interior cameras and called the San Mateo Police Department around 2:10 p.m. with the car’s exact location. The company then disabled the vehicle near 20th Avenue and El Camino Real, telling the pair the car was having trouble – a ruse that bought officers time to get into position.

Because the initial report described what looked like a real firearm, police conducted a high-risk stop, approaching with guns drawn and a police dog deployed. No one was hurt. Inside, officers found an Orbeez-style gel blaster – painted over to pass for the real thing – and open alcohol.

The teens cooperated, were detained, and were released to their parents. The case has been forwarded to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s office for review of possible charges, including underage drinking, and police say they plan to pull the Waymo’s interior video.

“Parents do you know where your teens are? @waymo does!” The department wrote on Facebook: “After calling us and stopping the car, we were able to safely remove both subjects and determined they were shooting Orbeez from the car as they sipped on afternoon libations while being chauffeured around town in the driverless vehicle.”

“While there was some ingenuity to this scheme, toy guns, water guns, and BB guns all pose real dangers, especially to an untrained eye… Shooting projectiles at speed can cause real damage. And lest not forget the underage drinking. All bad ideas today for these two. Well, the Waymo might have been the smartest idea yet, because driving impaired would’ve made this so much worse.”

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Is Tesla About To Use Facial Recognition Before Activating Full Self-Driving

Tesla is reportedly preparing a series of updates, including one that would use a vehicle’s cabin camera to verify a driver’s identity before activating Full Self-Driving.

It sounds a bit dystopian, but this is likely the direction that connected smart-car brands are headed. As vehicles become more autonomous, automakers will increasingly need to verify who is behind the wheel before unlocking FSD functions.

The X account Tesla App Updates penned a new report outlining a series of changes possibly headed to the mobile app, including deeper FSD integration, more owner-facing controls, and expanded software monetization infrastructure.

What stood out to us is the possibility of a new FSD identity-verification layer tied to the cabin camera. If the system cannot verify that the driver matches an authorized profile, FSD could be blocked.

Here’s the full report:

Native Support for “Coastal Blue” Paint

Tesla has added support for a new paint color called Coastal Blue, currently exclusive to the base Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive built at Giga Berlin for the European market.

The strings COASTALBLUE, getCoastalblue, setCoastalblue, clearCoastalblue, and hasCoastalblue show that the app is being updated to properly render this color in its 3D vehicle models. The app can now dynamically load the correct material and shading when a vehicle with this paint code is detected, ensuring accurate representation on the home screen, climate menu, and widgets.

In-App Searchable Video Tutorials

Tesla is building a native, searchable video tutorial library directly into the mobile app. Users will have access to a dedicated tutorial hub (VideoTutorialContent and VideoSearchPanel) with a search bar (VideoSearchBar) that returns relevant results (VideoSearchResultItem). This allows owners to quickly find how-to videos for features like FSD, wiper blade replacement, or PIN to Drive without leaving the app.

Users can also pin important tutorials (setPinnedVideo, pinnedVideo) for quick access. These pinned videos are expected to sync across devices via mergePinnedVideos. The interface uses a clean card-based design (VideoListCard) with pagination (VIDEO_SEARCH_PAGE_SIZE) for better performance.

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Tesla Auto-Pilot VP Says Driver Who Crashed into Home at 73 MPH Killing Elderly Woman Overrode Self-Driving Mode – Elon Musk Says Driver’s Claim “Makes No Sense”

Tesla has responded to the high-speed crash at a Texas family’s home, which killed an elderly woman, while the car was in self-driving mode, the driver claims. 

Tesla leadership, including CEO Elon Musk, has denied that the car was driving itself.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported on the incident, where the driver claimed the Tesla Model 3 was in self-driving mode before flying through the front yard and plowing into the home.

76-year-old Martha Avila Mantilla, a grandmother, was killed in the crash.

Additional video from another residence shows the Tesla flying through the neighborhood before the collision.

Initial reporting suggested that law enforcement was investigating the driver’s claim that he was in autopilot mode at the time of the crash. The driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, did not initially face charges.

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WHOA! Self-Driving Tesla Comes Flying Through Family’s Home in Texas Killing Woman

A Tesla, which the driver says was in self-driving mode, crashed into a Texas home at high speed on Friday, killing a woman inside the home.

Doorbell footage from the incident, obtained by Fox, shows the blue Tesla Model 3 flying through the front yard before plowing into the home.

76-year-old Martha Avila Mantilla, a grandmother, was killed in the crash.

Additional video from another residence shows the Tesla flying through the neighborhood before the collision.

Authorities say the car was speeding and blew through an intersection, missing its turn, before crashing into the home.

Law enforcement says the driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, showed no signs of intoxication and is cooperating with the investigation. He is not facing charges at this time.

Tesla currently faces a federal investigation into roughly 3 million Teslas and a potential recall of its self-driving vehicles.

“It just flew straight into their home,” a neighbor said. “It happened so quick.”

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Passengers Left in Middle of Busy Traffic After Over 100 Self-Driving Taxis Stop Running in ‘System Malfunction’ 

Passengers in Wuhan, China, were left stranded in the middle of busy streets after a large group of self-driving taxis stopped working at the same time.

A mass outage involving at least 100 robotaxis caused the vehicles to halt mid-traffic on Tuesday evening, with authorities later attributing the disruption to a “system malfunction.” Officials did not provide further details, and no injuries were reported, per the Associated Press.

Videos circulating on social media showed driverless cars sitting motionless in active roadways, some blocking lanes and intersections. In one clip, a crash involving a stopped vehicle could be seen, though the BBC reported there were no injuries and that passengers were able to exit the vehicles safely.

The vehicles are operated by Apollo Go, an autonomous ride-hailing service run by Chinese tech company Baidu. The company has been expanding its robotaxi operations across China and has plans to grow internationally, according to CNBC.

For passengers inside the cars, the experience was both confusing and unsettling.

According to the Associated Press, one passenger told Chinese media that their robotaxi stopped shortly after turning a corner. A message displayed on the vehicle’s screen read, “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.” When no one arrived, the passenger pressed an SOS button and was again told that help was on the way. The rider was ultimately able to open the door and exit the vehicle on their own.

The Wuhan incident comes amid a series of recent issues involving self-driving vehicles, both in the United States and abroad.

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California Approves Rules Allowing Automakers to Test, Deploy Heavy-Duty Autonomous Vehicles

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on April 28 approved new regulations that would allow autonomous vehicle (AV) makers to test and deploy heavy-duty AV technology on California roadways.

The California DMV said manufacturers are required to test their vehicles with a safety driver, then progress to driverless testing, before they can apply for deployment on state roads.

Manufacturers must complete 50,000 miles of testing at each phase for light-duty vehicles and 500,000 miles for heavy-duty AVs and provide “a structured safety case” showing the safety of vehicle hardware, software, and operations in order to obtain a permit, according to the DMV.

The new rules would also expand safety and oversight requirements for all classes of AVs, allowing law enforcement agencies to cite companies for moving violations committed by their vehicles.

Under the regulations, companies operating AVs must respond to first-responder calls within 30 seconds, and local emergency officials will have the authority to issue “electronic geofencing directives” requiring autonomous vehicles to leave active emergency zones.

“California continues to lead the nation in the development and adoption of AV technology, and these updated regulations further demonstrate the state’s commitment to public safety,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said.

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Wife of Tesla employee who died in what may have been the first Full Self-Driving crash said she and her husband were ‘guinea pigs’

Hans von Ohain, a Tesla recruiter, died in a car crash on a Colorado mountain road after his Tesla Model 3 veered off the road and barreled into a tree, bursting into flames, according to a new report from The Washington Post.

Erik Rossiter, a friend of Ohain’s who was in the vehicle at the time of the 2022 crash and survived the incident, told first responders Ohain had been using the “auto-drive feature on the Tesla” and the vehicle “just ran straight off the road,” the outlet reported.

If what Rossiter said is true, the incident — which Tesla has so far refused to acknowledge publicly — would be the first known fatality linked to the car company‘s Full Self-Driving technology.

While Ohain had been intoxicated at the time of the crash, with a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit, investigators found the incident was not a typical drunken-driving crash. Sgt. Robert Madden of Colorado State Patrol told the Post there were no skid marks, which would have indicated the vehicle attempted to brake before impact, but there were “rolling tire marks,” meaning power was still being deployed to the wheels after the crash.

Madden said that “given the crash dynamics and how the vehicle drove off the road with no evidence of a sudden maneuver, that fits with the [driver-assistance] feature” being engaged.

Madden also described the subsequent fire, which engulfed the car, as one of the “most intense” vehicle fires he had encountered, due largely to the lithium-ion battery cells housed in the undercarriage of the Tesla that Ohain was driving.

Ohain’s cause of death was determined to be smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, per the Post, and Madden said he probably would have survived the crash had it not been for the intensity of the flames.

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Drunks WON’T be able to get into driverless cars after a boozy evening: Ministers dash hopes of the futuristic vehicles acting as chauffeurs following a heavy night

Driverless cars promise motorists hands-off journeys, which many have hoped might allow for a couple more pints at the pub before travelling home.

But those planning to use their autonomous vehicle as a personal taxi service should beware, with the government announcing legislation to make sure it is treated like drink driving.

Being over the limit, going on your phone or having a nap behind the wheel of the futuristic cars will be illegal, according to documents published alongside the Automated Vehicles Bill which was announced in this week’s King’s Speech.

The Law Commission has already drawn up a draft proposal for legislation around the legal use of driverless cars and vehicles on Britain’s roads. 

Motorists must ‘remain in a fit state to drive’ while their car is on the road, and there must be a ‘user in charge’ who is able to take control if the self-driving system requests for them to do so.

Drivers will still need to be sat in the front seat and have a driving licence to operate their vehicles, and failing to do so could open them up to prosecution.

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