Driverless taxis have become an increasingly common sight on the streets of San Francisco in recent years as Google-owned Waymo and GM-owned Cruise expanded their activities there. But it may be a while before autonomous-vehicle passenger offerings in the city grow further after the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), following pushback from state and local officials, postponed a vote considering company proposals to increase their offerings.

The CPUC announced the postponement just a day in advance, citing “further review” as the reason for pushing back the vote.

The decision to take robotaxis off the agenda at the end of June followed a slew of opposition, including from a San Francisco Firefighters union, the San Francisco Police Officers Association, and the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association. Those organizations sent letters to the CPUC in the days leading up to the scheduled vote, urging it not to approve the requested expansion, pointing to a string of incidents involving self-driving vehicles on city streets.

Keep reading here.—MA

Alexander and Nikolay Shkolnik, the MIT grad and physics dad behind LiquidPiston, are delivering the first major innovation to the internal combustion engine in over 100 years.

And guess what? They’re giving you the chance to become a shareholder.

They’ve patented a new thermodynamic cycle to power a redesigned rotary engine that boasts up to 10x the power of a traditional piston engine. Best of all, the engine is compatible with a variety of fuels, including hydrogen. This could unlock a 100% green energy solution for the combustion engine market.

No wonder this (thermo)dynamic duo has secured $30m in contracts with the US military.

Don’t miss your chance to invest at their current share price. Learn more here.

Microsoft is charging some of its largest customers up to 40% more to test AI features in its Office 365 productivity suite, although it’s still unclear whether those features, or price jacks, are coming to all its business clients.

The Information reported that more than 600 large Office 365 customers are “expected to test” the AI-powered Copilot features, while 100 or more are already paying flat fees of $100,000 per year for up to 1,000 users, citing a “person with direct knowledge of the pilot program.” According to The Information, that’s a 40% price premium over the classic version.

While The Information couldn’t determine if all participants in the trial are paying the same fees or how much it costs the tech giant to run AI server farms to power them—but at $100k a pop, a test involving 600 customers would generate $60 million in revenue.

Keep reading here.—TM

Coworking is a weekly segment where we spotlight Tech Brew readers who work with emerging technologies. Click here if you’d like a chance to be featured.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in tech?

As president and CEO of Vodafone US, I lead our overall representation in the Americas region, where we’re not a household name, unlike our strong brand recognition throughout Europe. We’re recognized as one of the leading telco providers, and it’s my job to drive conversations with our multinational customers on 5G and tech migration, helping them to evolve their technology to better support their businesses.

What’s the most compelling tech project you’ve worked on, and why?

I’ve been really immersed in mobile private networks (MPN), exploring how they’re revolutionizing the way organizations are connecting with data in a smarter, more optimized way.

Vodafone Business had the opportunity to partner with Ford Motor to set up an MPN for electric vehicle production at its Dunton Technical Centre, near London. We paired the facility with another site in Cambridge using 5G MPN so both places could work together to perform complex processes, coordinating both the machines and computing power in real time. Looking ahead, there are a number of future applications the Ford plant could explore, from untethered robots and automated guided vehicles that tackle repetitive tasks to AI systems that monitor and run predictive maintenance. The possibilities are endless.

Keep reading here.

Stat: 74%. That’s the percentage of fireworks injuries that occur in the weeks before and following the Fourth of July holiday, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Be safe out there—we want to see you back here on Wednesday with all of your digits.

Quote: “In that moment, it was like my hard drive crashed. My eyebrows went to the top of my head, and um, I didn’t know they went that high. That was one of the most surprising moments in my life. I’m not usually speechless.”—Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, reflecting on a video of himself learning that Airbnb’s market value reached $100 billion on the day the company went public

Read: Microsoft’s Satya Nadella is betting everything on AI (Wired)

#thriving: Bynder’s State of Content Report found that 77% of tech marketers are prioritizing time to market in 2023. Get key stats and insights to create a speedy, flourishing content program in the full report.*

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