Technology Meant for Self-Driving Cars Finds a Second Act

For autonomous vehicles and car companies, 2016 was a heady year. Multimillion-dollar investments in self-driving technologies were heralded on a weekly basis, and then Ford made an audacious prediction: It would mass-produce self-driving cars for consumers by 2021.

That era “was insane with announcements,” said Alan Hall, a Ford communications manager at the time, “and 2021 was the magic number.”

Five years after that missed goal, fully autonomous vehicles festooned with sensors still aren’t for sale, robotaxis haunt only a handful of cities, and self-driving trucks are still limited to pilot projects. Moreover, many of those autonomous-vehicle darlings of 2016 have since thrown in the towel, such as Luminar, which declared bankruptcy last December, and the robotaxi company Cruise, which General Motors shuttered in 2024 to refocus its efforts on personal vehicles.

But as the autonomous dreams of a decade ago succumbed to practical challenges, other companies have found new applications for their innovations.

Story continues in The New York Times.