Russian technology enterprise Yandex stated that it was “pausing” its autonomous automobile and sidewalk robot trying out within the US. The news turned into first stated by automotive information.
The agency said it changed into idling its robotaxi fleet in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well as a transport provider with Grubhub powered by using its six-wheeled sidewalk robots. “We are hoping to start the operations in the future,” a spokesperson stated.
The news comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine persisted to send shockwaves around the world. The war has sparked a fierce outcry among Western countries, main many to cut business ties with Russian companies. On Friday, Russia announced it become blocking access to Facebook.
Yandex commenced operating on AV generation in 2016, demonstrating its first successful test at the snowy streets of Moscow 12 months later. The business enterprise made its global debut at the purchaser Electronics display in Las Vegas in 2019, allowing people to journey in its fully independent vehicles (i.e., no one at the back of the steering wheel) on public roads. And in the year 2020, Yandex opened a technology center in Ann Arbor, bringing along some of its AVs for public road testing.
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Meanwhile, the organization released a delivery pilot provider with GrubHub the use of its six-wheeled sidewalk robots at the campuses of Ohio state university and the University of Arizona.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is having far-reaching consequences for organizations like Yandex that had international targets. Uber, for example, accelerated the sale of its stake in its joint project with the business enterprise, Yandex.Taxi. Uber, which offered its Russian-primarily based operations to Yandex in 2017, had a 29 percentage stake inside the venture that was worth approximately $800 million on the cease of 2021.
Uber is likewise eliminating its executives from Yandex’s board. The agency initiated the sale of its stake in Yandex in August, however that technique accelerated after the invasion of Ukraine.
