TNB Tech Minute: General Motors Scraps Cruise Robotaxi Program
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How is AI pushing the boundaries of what's possible, not just in the way we live and work, but in addressing some of humanity's toughest challenges? Find out in the latest episode of AI That Means Business, a new podcast from Google and custom content from WSJ. Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Tuesday, December 10th. I'm Bell Lynn for The Wall Street Journal.

General Motors is scrapping its cruise robo-taxi program. It cited the time and costs needed to scale the business and rising competition from other autonomous driving competitors.

GM said it plans to realign its autonomous driving strategy and give priority to development of advanced driver assistance systems. The automaker said it will also pursue a path for fully autonomous personal vehicles and build on the progress of its SuperCruise hands-off, eyes-on driving feature. The company said it expects the restructuring to reduce spending by more than $1 billion annually after the proposed plan is completed.

That's expected in the first half of next year. The European Union's digital regulator has confirmed it is looking into Google's advertising practices under an online content law that bans companies from using miners' data for targeted advertising.

The regulator said Google has responded and that it's currently assessing the search giant's response and deciding on next steps. The scrutiny comes as the EU executive is enforcing the Digital Services Act, a newly applicable rulebook designed to address illegal online content and disinformation and to promote transparent advertising in the bloc. The DSA prohibits companies from using miners' data for targeted advertising.

And Games Workshop Group, the UK manufacturer of Warhammer, a miniature tabletop war game, says it's reached an agreement with Amazon Content Services for the film and television series based on the game Warhammer 40,000.

Games Workshop Group said it granted exclusive rights to Amazon subsidiary over the Warhammer 40,000 universe. That universe incorporates miniature fantasy models that consumers can assemble and paint to use in board games and is the core of Games Workshop's revenue. The game is especially popular in the UK and Europe and North American markets. Games Workshop said production for the movie and TV series might take a number of years.

Financial details of the agreement weren't disclosed. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Wednesday's Tech News Briefing Podcast. AI is coming to your industry if it isn't already here. But AI needs lots of speed and computing power. So how do you compete without costs spiraling? Upgrade to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI. OCI is the blazing fast and secure platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI workloads.

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