Wait, who’s driving that bulldozer?

If autonomous heavy equipment startup SafeAI has its way, no one. The Santa Clara, California-based startup aims to take a leading role in automating the construction and mining sectors. But beyond removing the operator from heavy machinery, it also wants to eliminate vehicle emissions.

SafeAI and Japanese construction company Obayashi recently unveiled what they’re billing as the first-ever haul truck retrofitted to be both autonomous and electric. The advancement, the companies say, could help heavy industry companies boost safety and productivity, reduce costs, and improve environmental performance on work sites.

“We know how to do electric. That’s happening. We know how to do autonomy,” SafeAI CEO and founder Bibhrajit Halder told Tech Brew. “But bringing it together is the technical advancement we are proud of.”

Keep reading here.—JG

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Salesforce is beefing up its AI offerings as it gears up to roll out Einstein Copilot, the company’s new all-purpose conversational AI assistant for the office, early next year.

The enterprise giant announced at an event in New York last week that it will begin offering support for unstructured data like emails, PDFs, and transcripts in combination with structured business information, to more easily customize generative AI applications without intensive fine-tuning. The company also said it’s adding new search capabilities to its forthcoming Copilot product to better navigate that data.

“Einstein Copilot is an entirely new paradigm for Salesforce, an entirely new user interface,” Patrick Stokes, EVP of product and industries marketing, said in the keynote. “It is a fully working generative AI embedded right into the flow of work, embedded right into all of our best-in-class applications.”

Salesforce is not the only company eyeing the enterprise market for so-called Copilots, or generative AI-powered workplace assistants that can retrieve information and help draft various communications. Microsoft’s similar Copilot 365 is now widely available as of last month. Google also released a version of its new Gemini model for enterprise this week.

Salesforce is hoping this new announcement will help better integrate one of its key edges in this race: the sprawling databases of existing enterprise data that its clients keep on the platform.

Keep reading here.—PK

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 a chief technology officer—or as a software architect more generally—my job often centers around trying to help organizations set the right technical strategy. I look at a lot of factors, make predictions, and make an effort to influence many different factors that are out of my control. Overall, I’d liken my role to a farmer—trying to plant the right seeds in the right soil and then hoping the weather conditions turn out all right.

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

I was an early supporter of TechLit Africa, a nonprofit organization that reuses computer equipment from North America for schools in rural Kenya, where children were able to get hands-on education on digital literacy and coding. Because web access is sparse there, the organization created an unbelievable infrastructure—a kind of internet in a box—that gives kids the web experience. The founder, Nelly Cheboi, has a remarkable story, and she was CNN’s Hero of the Year in 2022.

What technologies are you most optimistic about? Least? And why?

Interestingly, the answer to what I’m most optimistic about and least optimistic about is the same: AI. It all comes down to how society proceeds with the explosion of AI innovation we’re seeing today.

Keep reading here.

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