谷歌日前宣布,将把其无人驾驶汽车技术投入一家名为Waymo的新公司。Waymo将归谷歌母公司Alphabet所有。
Google is putting its self-driving car technology into a new company which it will call Waymo, the firm has announced. Waymo will be owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet.
在一次媒体活动中,Waymo公司讲述了一位盲人的故事,他能够使用原型无人驾驶汽车完成一次完整的旅行。
At a media event, the company showed the story of a blind man who was able to make a full trip using a prototype self-driving car.
谷歌的约翰·克拉富西克写道:“史蒂夫·马汉独自驾驶我们的原型汽车,游览了奥斯汀的郊区。史蒂夫是法定盲人,所以我们的传感器和软件是他的司机。”
"Steve Mahan rode alone in our prototype vehicles, cruising through Austin's suburbs,” wrote Google's John Krafcik. "Steve is legally blind, so our sensors and software were his chauffeur."
克拉富西克先生将成为Waymo的首席执行官。该公司表示,会尝试将无人驾驶汽车背后的技术用作其他目的。
Mr Krafcik will become Waymo's chief executive. The company said it will try to apply the technology behind self-driving vehicles to other purposes.
虽然其他公司,如最著名的电动汽车制造商特斯拉,已经设法将无人驾驶技术的元素到推广到真正的道路上,但是谷歌一直采取更加谨慎的方法。
While other companies, most notably electric car maker Tesla, have managed to roll out elements of self-driving technology to real roads, Google has been taking a far more cautious approach.
Waymo公司的声明可能暗示,谷歌将偏离其原始目标--仅提供100%无人驾驶汽车。
The Waymo's announcement could suggest that Google will deviate from its original goal of only offering 100% self-driving vehicles.
有报道称,谷歌放弃制造自己的汽车,也许是为了与更成熟的汽车制造商达成合作。不过谷歌公司并未对此作出回应。
Google did not respond to reports that it was abandoning making its own car in favour of working with other, perhaps more established, carmakers.