US: GM buys Strobe, a startup that makes crucial tech for self-driving US: GM buys Strobe, self-driving cars tech startup

On Monday, October 9, General Motors (GM) said it would buy Strobe, which uses laser-radar (Lidar) technology to help self-driving cars identify objects at a distance, to boost its push into the market for self-driving vehicles.

Deal terms were not disclosed, but Pasadena, California-based Strobe was founded by CEO Julie Schoenfeld, a serial entrepreneur and veteran of noted startup incubator Idealab. She also served as CEO of Perfect Market, an Idealab company that Taboola acquired in 2014.

A GM spokesperson said that the company couldn’t provide details related to the financials, but GM did confirm that the deal has closed.

“Strobe’s Lidar technology will significantly improve the cost and capabilities of our vehicles so that we can more quickly accomplish our mission to deploy driverless vehicles at scale,” GM’s Cruise Automation chief executive, Kyle Vogt, said.

GM acquired Cruise in 2016 to press forward with an urban-self-driving solution. In 2017, the carmaker began producing all-electric Chevy Bolt EVs equipped with Cruise’s integrated technology while also testing the systems in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Strobe’s Lidar sensors provide both accurate distance and velocity information, which can be checked against similar information from a radar sensor for redundancy,” Vogt wrote in a Medium post announcing the deal.

Full Content: New York Times

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