Google Announces Lidar for Autonomous Cars

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NEWS Google Announces Lidar for Autonomous Cars Waymo wants to do everything itself. The self-driving automobile division of Google’s parent company Alphabet, has announced that it is building all of its self-driving automobile hardware in-house. That means Waymo is manufacturing its own lidar. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Two years ago the project director for Google’s self-driving car project started dropping hints that the tech company would be building its own lidar sensors. At the time, their self-driving prototype used a $70,000 Velodyne lidar sensor, and Google felt the price was too high to justify mass-production. Rather than wait for the market to produce a cheaper sensor, Google started developing its own. In the intervening time automotive lidar has become a red-hot market segment. It seems like every month brings a new company announcing a low-cost sensor. But it turns out that Google was not deterred: At the Detroit Auto show last Sunday, Waymo’s CEO announced that the company had produced its own lidar, and brought the technology’s price down “by more than 90%.” A quick bit of napkin math puts the final number at about US$7,500. Attentive readers will note that the unit’s cost is notably higher than solid-state offerings from Quanergy, Innoviz, and a number of other competitors. However, many of those sensors are not currently available on the market, despite lots of press attention and big PR pushes. Waymo’s sensors, on the other hand, are available right now–at least to Waymo. They’re also made exactly to spec. The company says that it has already developed a long-range and a short-range sensor. Alongside this news, Business Insider notes that Waymo has said it won’t be “physically building cars.” Instead, the company “intends to instead supply self-driving tech to other companies.” This means that Waymo is setting itself up to offer some of the cheaper self-driving technology currently on the market. It is already working with Chrysler, for example, on an autonomous ride- sharing service that could be a real competitor for Uber’s forthcoming service. That leaves a few questions: How long before Waymo starts making its own solid-state lidar? And what other plans does Google have for the lidar it already produces in-house? https://www.gim-international.com/content/news/google-announces-lidar-for-autonomous-cars.

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 13 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 14 _______ Individually and on Behalf of All ) Case No. 15 Others Similarly Situated, ) ) CLASS ACTION 16 Plaintiff, ) ) COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE 17 vs. ) FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS ) 18 VELODYNE LIDAR, INC. f/k/a GRAF ) INDUSTRIAL CORP., ANAND GOPALAN, ) 19 ANDREW HAMER, JAMES A. GRAF, ) MICHAEL DEE, OC OPPORTUNITIES ) 20 FUND II, L.P., OWL CREEK ASSET ) MANAGEMENT, L.P. and GRAF ) 21 ACQUISITION LLC, ) ) 22 Defendants. ) ) DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 Plaintiff ______ (“plaintiff”), individually and on behalf of all others similarly 2 situated, alleges the following based upon information and belief as to the investigation 3 conducted by plaintiff’s counsel, which included, among other things, a review of U.S. 4 Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings by Velodyne Lidar, Inc. f/k/a Graf 5 Industrial Corp. (“Velodyne” or the “Company”) and securities analyst reports, press 6 releases, and other public statements issued by, or about, the Company. Plaintiff believes 7 that substantial additional evidentiary support will exist for the allegations set forth herein 8 after a reasonable opportunity for discovery. 9 NATURE OF THE ACTION 10 1. This is a federal securities class action brought on behalf of all purchasers of 11 Velodyne securities (the “Class”) between July 2, 2020 and March 17, 2021, inclusive (the “Class 12 Period”), seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange 13 Act”). 14 JURISDICTION AND VENUE 15 2.
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