QtrendsWaymo recalls thousands of robotaxis over highway safety flaw
Waymo has recalled nearly 4,000 robotaxis after discovering a software defect that could cause the vehicles to drive at highway speed into construction zones on closed freeways. The recall covers the majority of its fleet and marks one of the largest safety actions in the autonomous vehicle industry. Multiple outlets including TechCrunch, WIRED, and Engadget report that the issue stems from a mapping and perception system limitation. The company is rolling out an over-the-air software update to address the vulnerability.
Alibaba Cloud is expanding aggressively in Europe and Asia, opening a new Paris hub to meet growing demand amid Europe's data sovereignty push and launching a fifth data center in Japan. The Chinese tech giant is also opening its Qwen large language model to third-party applications, signaling an intensifying AI agent race in the region. The moves reflect Alibaba's strategy to position its cloud and AI services as a global competitor beyond China's domestic market.
TCL has launched a new E Ink tablet that reviewers are calling a strong competitor to both the Remarkable and Kindle lines. Meanwhile, WIRED and Engadget are running comparison guides for Amazon Fire tablets and Kindle alternatives, reflecting growing consumer interest in e-reader and tablet options outside Amazon's ecosystem. The segment is seeing renewed competition as brands challenge Amazon's dominance in digital reading hardware.
ByteDance's heavy investment in AI is creating opportunities for Chinese chip startups as the company seeks domestic supply chain solutions. Tokyo Electron's CEO remains confident about the company's edge even as China accelerates its chip self-sufficiency push. Marvell is adopting TSMC's cutting-edge 1.4-nanometer process technology to stay competitive in the AI data center race, underscoring how the semiconductor industry continues to be reshaped by AI demand.
Anthropic is disabling its most advanced AI models in response to a US government order restricting foreign countries from accessing frontier AI technology. The Guardian is also running a critical opinion piece pushing back against what it calls 'AI absolutism' — the belief that artificial superintelligence is inevitable. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders has introduced a $7 trillion legislative proposal to give the American public collective control of the AI industry, framing the technology as a public good rather than a private asset.