17 October, 2024
Gov. Newsom vetoes California’s controversial AI bill, SB 1047
California Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 1047, a high-profile bill that would have regulated the development of AI.
The bill was authored by State Senator Scott Wiener and would have made companies that develop AI models liable for implementing safety protocols to prevent “critical harms.” The rules would only have applied to models that cost at least $100 million and use 10^26 FLOPS (floating point operations, a measure of computation) during training.
SB 1047 was opposed by many in Silicon Valley, including companies like OpenAI, high-profile technologists like Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, and even Democratic politicians such as U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna. That said, the bill had also been amended based on suggestions by AI company Anthropic and other opponents.
While California’s state legislature passed SB 1047, opponents were holding out hope that Newsom might veto it — and indeed, he’d already indicated that he had reservations about the bill.
In a statement about today’s veto, Newsom said, “While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data. Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions — so long as a large system deploys it. I do not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology.”
Congresswoman and longtime House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had also criticized the bill as “well-intentioned but ill-informed.” After the veto was announced, she praised Newsom “for recognizing the opportunity and responsibility we all share to enable small entrepreneurs and academia – not big tech – to dominate.”
In the same announcement, Newsom’s office noted that he’s signed 17 bills around the regulation and deployment of AI technology in the last 30 days, and it said he’s asked experts such as Fei-Fei Li, Tino Cuéllar, and Jennifer Tour Chayes to “help California develop workable guardrails for deploying GenAI.” (Known as the “godmother of AI,” Li had previously said SB 1047 would “harm our budding AI ecosystem.”)
Wiener, meanwhile, published a statement describing the veto as “a setback for everyone who believes in oversight of massive corporations that are making critical decisions that affect the safety and welfare of the public and the future of the planet.” He also claimed that the debate around the bill “has dramatically advanced the issue of AI safety on the international stage.”
Nancy Pelosi criticizes California AI bill as ‘ill-informed’
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi issued a statement late yesterday laying out her opposition to SB 1047, a California bill that seeks to regulate AI.
“The view of many of us in Congress is that SB 1047 is well-intentioned but ill-informed,” Pelosi said. She noted that other congresspeople from the Bay Area — Zoe Lofgren, Anna Eshoo, and Ro Khanna — have expressed concerns about the bill, which she described as “more harmful than helpful.”
The bill was recently amended to address concerns from critics, including AI company Anthropic, and is currently headed to California’s Assembly for a vote. Since this is a state bill, Pelosi and others in Congress don’t have any official say — though Pelosi’s seniority and profile are likely to give her opinion weight with California politicians.
“AI springs from California,” she said. “We must have legislation that is a model for the nation and the world. We have the opportunity and responsibility to enable small entrepreneurs and academia — not big tech — to dominate.”
State senator Scott Wiener, who sponsored the bill, issued his own statement in response, saying that while he has “enormous respect” for Pelosi, “I respectfully and strongly disagree with her statement.”
“The bill requires only the largest AI developers to do what each and every one of them has repeatedly committed to do: Perform basic safety testing on massively powerful AI models,” Wiener added.
OpenAI's opposition to California's AI bill 'makes no sense,' says state senator
OpenAI broke its silence on California’s most controversial AI bill on Tuesday, officially expressing opposition in a letter to California state Senator Scott Wiener and Governor Gavin Newsom. The AI giant argued that SB 1047, introduced by Wiener in February, would stifle innovation and push talent out of California — a position Wiener quickly replied “makes no sense.”
“The AI revolution is only just beginning, and California’s unique status as the global leader in AI is fueling the state’s economic dynamism,” said OpenAI’s Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon in the letter obtained by TechCrunch. “SB 1047 would threaten that growth, slow the pace of innovation, and lead California’s world-class engineers and entrepreneurs to leave the state in search of greater opportunity elsewhere. Given those risks, we must protect America’s AI edge with a set of federal policies — rather than state ones — that can provide clarity and certainty for AI labs and developers while also preserving public safety.”
The company joins broad local pushback against SB 1047 on Tuesday, adding its take to those of trade groups representing Google and Meta, investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, prominent AI researchers and California Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Zoe Lofgren.
An OpenAI spokesperson says the company has been in discussions with Senator Wiener’s office about the bill for months. However, Senator Wiener says the AI lab’s argument that SB 1047 would push AI companies out of California is “tired.”
Wiener pointed out in a press release on Wednesday that OpenAI doesn’t actually “criticize a single provision of the bill.” He says the company’s claim that companies will leave California because of SB 1047 “makes no sense given that SB 1047 is not limited to companies headquartered in California.” As we’ve previously reported, SB 1047 affects all AI model developers that do business in California and meet certain size thresholds.
In other words, whether an AI company was based in San Jose or San Antonio, if they let Californians use their products, they would be subject to these restrictions. (An example of an effective law with this type of scope is Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act.)
That said, Bloomberg reports that OpenAI has put conversations about expanding its San Francisco offices on hold amid concerns about California’s regulatory landscape. OpenAI has had an office in San Francisco’s Mission district for years, and recently moved into a new office in the city’s Mission Bay region, previously occupied by Uber.
OpenAI declined to comment further on those real estate discussions.
“Instead of criticizing what the bill actually does, OpenAI argues this issue should be left to Congress,” said Wiener in the statement. “As I’ve stated repeatedly, I agree that ideally Congress would handle this. However, Congress has not done so, and we are skeptical Congress will do so.” Tech companies have taken similar stances regarding privacy laws in the past, calling for federal regulation knowing it will be slow to come, and California ended up stepping up there as well.
OpenAI has endorsed several federal bills regulating AI models, one of which authorizes the United States AI Safety Institute as a federal body that sets standards and guidelines for AI models. From a high level, that’s fairly similar to what SB 1047’s Board of Frontier Models is supposed to do.
California lawmakers significantly amended SB 1047 to give Governor Newsom a less controversial AI bill to sign, but they’ve failed to convince Silicon Valley’s most important AI lab the bill is worth passing.
SB 1047 is now headed for a final vote in California’s Assembly and could land on Governor Newsom’s desk by the end of the month. The California governor has not indicated his feelings on SB 1047, but he’d likely face a broad industry backlash if he signs it.
OpenAI, Adobe and Microsoft support California bill requiring watermarks on AI content
OpenAI, Adobe and Microsoft have thrown their support behind a California bill requiring tech companies to label AI-generated content, according to letters from the companies viewed by TechCrunch. The bill is headed for a final vote in August.
AB 3211 requires watermarks in the metadata of AI-generated photos, videos and audio clips. Lots of AI companies already do this, but most people don’t read metadata. AB 3211 also requires large online platforms, like Instagram or X, to label AI-generated content in a way average viewers can understand.
OpenAI, Adobe and Microsoft are part of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, which helped create C2PA metadata — a widely used standard for marking AI-generated content.
A trade group representing Adobe, Microsoft and the nation’s largest software makers previously opposed AB 3211 in April, calling the bill “unworkable” and “overly burdensome” in a letter to California lawmakers. However, amendments to the bill appear to have changed their minds.
Tesla profits tumble, Fisker flatlines, and California cities battle for control of AVs
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Welp, Tesla earnings happened this week — and yeah that was a lot. A lot of what, you ask? A lot of the same kinds of promises and hand waving we’ve seen before, but just wrapped up in slightly different packaging. The stakes this time around remind me of Tesla’s pre-profit era circa 2018.
Now, to be clear, Tesla has enjoyed profitability since 2020. But it is facing downward pressure on its bottom line — the company saw profits fall 55% year over year — and an aging portfolio of its highest volume vehicles. (And yes, we covered the new Model 3 Performance variant; I’m talking about new mass market models here.)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk needs to generate new sources of revenue. And fast. The company can’t wait two years or more to launch a new platform to deliver a sub-$25,000 EV.
So Musk tweaked that plan, from what we know so far. Which isn’t a lot. During the Q1 earnings call, Musk presented an opaque plan with few details to launch multiple cheaper EVs in 2025 (and maybe even late 2024).
Musk understands that the market has rewarded him in the past for being a forward thinker and an innovator — even if those plans don’t come to fruition. So, Musk also pulled on that futurist lever, promising greater levels of automated driving capability in its FSD driver-assistance software and a robotaxi (again). Lest you forget, Musk announced during the company’s Autonomy Day in 2019 that Tesla was going to launch a robotaxi network by the following year. Musk has talked about the Tesla Network and its ambitions to allow owners to place their vehicles on the ride-hailing app since 2016.
Shareholders responded with glee because the future is now, or maybe next year. Okay, maybe at the end of the decade? Anyway, it’s exciting.
In an unrelated note, the recently departed high-profile Tesla exec Drew Baglino sold about 1.14 million of his shares worth $181.47 million. The filing described it as an exercise of stock options.
Let’s go!
A little bird
A little bird pointed out to me that Valeo CTO Geoffrey Bouquot is leaving the company after eight years. For the unfamiliar, Valeo is a French car parts supplier that has pushed into the EV and automated driving space. The company even has an AI research center dedicated to automotive applications.
That EV sector had been promising for Valeo, but this recent quarter reflected what is happening in the rest of the sector. The company posted lower first-quarter sales after its high-voltage electrification system sales fell by nearly half. Valeo is now adjusting to automakers’ needs aka hybrids.
Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at [email protected], Sean O’Kane at [email protected] or Rebecca Bellan at [email protected]. If you prefer to remain anonymous, click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and various encrypted messaging apps.
Deals!
Who’s got deals? We do. Here are a handful that stood out.
Chemix, a company using AI to speed up the development of next-gen EV batteries, raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Ibex Investors. Other participants included Mayfield Fund, Berkeley SkyDeck and Urban Innovation Fund, as well as strategic investors BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund, Global Brain’s KDDI Open Innovation Fund III and Porsche Ventures.
LanzaJet, a sustainable fuels technology company and fuels producer, received an undisclosed investment from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund. A report in Axios Pro says the company is raising $100 million and expects to close this quarter.
Outpost, an Austin, Texas-based startup that manages a network of semi-truck parking facilities, raised $12.5 million in a Series A funding round led by GreenPoint Partners. The newly branded company, founded in 2021 under the name Semi-Stow, also received backing from Speedwagon Capital Partners.
Radical, a Seattle-based startup developing solar-powered, high-altitude autonomous aircraft, raised $4.5 million in a seed round led by Scout Ventures, with additional funding from investors Inflection Mercury Fund and Y Combinator, among others.
Solera, the automotive data and software-as-a-service company, is evaluating an initial public offering that could raise more than $1 billion, Bloomberg reported.
Stark Future, a Spanish startup that makes off-road electric motorcycles, raised €25 million from Big Bets. The company will use the funds to expand production capacity for its Stark VARG electric off-road motorcycle.
Notable reads and other tidbits
ADAS
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed a long-standing investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assistance system after reviewing hundreds of crashes involving its misuse, including 13 that were fatal and “many more involving serious injuries.” Tl;dr: The agency called Tesla’s driver engagement system “weak” and said it was “not appropriate for Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities.”
Autonomous vehicles
TC reporter Rebecca Bellan has been keeping track of legislative activity in California — one of the hotbeds of AV activity. Check out the latest on four bills that are being considered by the state legislature and how one in particular could put cities in a more powerful position.
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries
Faraday Future is about to get booted from the Nasdaq Capital Market — a tier within the exchange for lower valued companies — because its share price has been too low, for too long.
Fisker is planning more layoffs less than two months after cutting 15% of its workforce. The company expects to seek bankruptcy protection within the next 30 days if it can’t come up with that money, according to a regulatory filing.
Mercedes gave us a close look at the upcoming all-electric G-Class — the “Birkin bag” of the automaker’s portfolio. Read more about how it compares to the gas-powered version.
Rivian is offering discounts of up to $5,000 on its EVs — and a year of free charging — to customers willing to trade in eligible gas-powered trucks and SUVs. Those eligible vehicles, which include the Ford F-150, reveal what customers Rivian is targeting.
Future of flight
Amazon ended Prime Air drone delivery operations in Lockeford, California. The Central California town of 3,500 was the company’s second U.S. drone delivery site, after College Station, Texas.
Joby Aviation, the California company developing electric aircraft, signed a memorandum of understanding agreement with three Abu Dhabi government departments to establish an electric air taxi service ecosystem.
Zipline passed a major milestone this week. One of its autonomous drones, called “Zips,” carried two bags of IV fluid from Zipline’s distribution center in Ghana’s Western North Region to a local health facility — the company’s millionth delivery.
In-car tech
Here’s a nerdy one I enjoyed. Automotive electronics supplier Elektrobit announced EB corbos Linux for Safety Applications. What do those words even mean? Ars Technica has a nice explainer, but basically Elektrobit developed an open source-based automotive operating system that has been certified for automotive safety compliance. If you care about “software-defined vehicles,” this matters!
This week’s wheels
The 2024 Lexus LC 500h is not an EV. But over here at TC, we are also interested in hybrids! Plus, it’s been a minute since I have spent some time exploring the many offerings under the Lexus brand. The Lexus LC 500h starts at $101,250, but the version I drove popped up to $113,350 thanks to some additional premium touches like an upgraded audio system, retractable wing and a carbon fiber roof.
The Lexus LC 500h isn’t a vehicle you see every day, or year even. I suppose it’s because coupes are not so popular these days — crossovers rule that roost — although I quite like the looks and proportions of the Lexus LC 500h and its V8-engined twin.
This vehicle comes with a 3.5L, six-cylinder hybrid engine that produces 354 horsepower thanks to the addition of an electric motor that delivers power to the rear wheels. Another electric motor is what charges up the vehicle’s battery.
The curious part is that this vehicle has a multistage transmission. So basically this means that Lexus took its existing electronically controlled, continuously variable transmission system and then added another gearbox (a four-speed transmission) behind it. The thinking is that this gives drivers a sportier experience and 10 different gear selections via the paddles behind the steering wheel when the vehicle is in manual mode. The Lexus multistage hybrid system has been around for years now, but I had yet to really play around with it.
My take: After some time in manual mode, I found myself just putting it back in “drive” and letting the vehicle do the work for me.
Tesla settles California hazardous waste lawsuit with a $1.5M fine
Well, that was fast.
A settlement has been reached just two days after district attorneys from 25 California counties filed a lawsuit against Tesla over allegations the automaker repeatedly mishandled hazardous waste at its facilities throughout the state.
Tesla has agreed to pay $1.3 million in civil penalties and $200,000 to reimburse the costs of the investigation, according to a press release from the Office of the District Attorney in San Francisco. Tesla is also under a detailed injunction for five years, which requires training employees and hiring a third party to conduct annual waste audits of its trash containers at 10% of its facilities. These audits will occur each year for five years and auditors will examine trash containers for hazardous waste, according to the joint release sent Thursday evening.
Tesla will pay for these audits as future expenses, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s (SFDA) office.
Tesla owns 57 car service centers and 18 solar energy facilities throughout California. It also manufactures electric vehicles at its Fremont Factory in Alameda County.
The SFDA office explained the quick resolution by noting that the parties had reached a settlement prior to the complaint being filed. “The Complaint and the Stipulated Judgment were filed at the same time on Tuesday reflecting this agreement. However, the Judge did not approve of the settlement until today,” a spokesperson with the SFDA wrote in an emailed statement.
“While electric vehicles may benefit the environment, the manufacturing and servicing of these vehicles still generates many harmful waste streams,” San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. “Today’s settlement against Tesla Inc. serves to provide a cleaner environment for citizens throughout the state by preventing the contamination of our precious natural resources when hazardous waste is mismanaged and unlawfully disposed. We are proud to work with our district attorney partners to enforce California’s environmental laws to ensure these hazardous wastes are handled properly.”
The complaint, filed January 30 in San Joaquin County Superior Court, stated that Tesla improperly labeled and disposed of materials like “lead acid batteries and other batteries,” paints, brake fluid, aerosols, antifreeze, acetone, diesel fuel and more at its production and service facilities throughout the state. Tesla also allegedly improperly disposed of the waste, both on-site and at landfills that can’t accept hazardous waste, according to the lawsuits.
While the lawsuit was just filed a day ago, the environmental investigation has been a six-year effort.
The San Francisco District Attorney’s Environmental Division initiated an investigation in 2018 when SFDA investigators conducted undercover inspections of Tesla’s trash containers at its car service centers, according to prosecutors. The inspections revealed the illegal disposal of numerous used hazardous automotive components such as lubricating oils, brake cleaners and antifreeze.
The discovery prompted additional inspections at Tesla car service centers and eventually to the trash containers at the automaker’s factory in Fremont, where they found an unlawful disposal of additional hazardous wastes, including metal car panel welding spatter waste (which can contain copper), waste paint mix cups produced during paint repair and wipes/debris contaminated with primer.
Tesla did cooperate with the investigation and took steps to improve its compliance, the SFDA’s office said in a joint press release. Settlement talks had been underway prior to the lawsuit.
HopSkipDrive beats new California ride-sharing emissions targets
Youth ride-share startup HopSkipDrive beat two key new California emissions standards in 2023, an accomplishment the company believes will bolster its case for relying more on shared passenger vehicles to get kids and teens to and from school.
The company tells TechCrunch that electric vehicles drove 8% of all miles on the platform in the state last year, 400% more than the 2% target set by California’s Air Resources Board (CARB). Total emissions for the year in California were 240 grams of carbon dioxide per passenger mile, comfortably under the 252 grams-per-mile benchmark.
It’s a feather in the cap but also an added selling point for the decade-old company, which has had to remake itself a few times over the years as it faces increased competition — including from Uber — and new challenges, like a recent data breach.
One of those evolutions came during the pandemic. That’s when CEO Joanna McFarland says her team pushed to build its own strategic route-planning software for schools using machine learning, creating a new business line adjacent to the ride-share offering.
The goal was to help make school transportation networks more efficient and also alleviate driver shortage concerns. While drivers must have five years of childcare experience, they don’t need the commercial license required to operate a school bus.
“We can be more than just a care-centered transportation marketplace,” McFarland remembers thinking. “We can really solve these school transportation challenges and help lead school transportation into a newer, cleaner era.”
The targets HopSkipDrive cleared were established as part of CARB’s Clean Miles Standard and Incentive Program, which was passed in 2018 in an effort to clean up the fleets of so-called Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft. That regulation went into effect in 2023, and TNCs like HopSkipDrive are required to submit their results later this year.
HopSkipDrive beat the targets for two reasons, McFarland says. First, California already has a fairly high rate of electric vehicle adoption, thanks to a mix of regulatory policy and economic incentives. In fact, HopSkipDrive says 36% of all vehicles that completed a ride in California last year were electric, hybrid or fuel cell.
The second is the route-planning software. “That dramatically reduces the number of miles driven and the amount of emissions,” she said, because “many school districts have very inefficient routes.”
“Anytime you have less than 12 kids on a school bus, a better option is actually to put those kids into sedans, and that reduces the emissions, that reduces mileage, and makes the entire operation more efficient,” she said.
That may seem counterintuitive at a time when the Biden administration is lining up a billion dollars in federal funding for schools to adopt electric buses. But in some cases, those buses won’t be ready immediately. And while a billion dollars is a lot of money, it won’t buy clean school buses for every district in the country.
Besides, McFarland says, “how our kids are getting to school has changed dramatically over the last 30 years.” Urban planning fans may cringe at the thought of slow-moving multi-lane drop-off and pickup lines, but funding for electric buses isn’t going to inspire those schools — or parents — to immediately change their ways, she says.
“It’s a great thing that is happening. It’s going to take a little bit longer than I think some of the excitement that is surrounding it,” she says. “I think what we offer is a real way to accelerate that, and accelerate districts meeting some of their goals that they won’t be able to without services like ours.”
McFarland says the flexibility of passenger vehicles is helpful for students who are experiencing homelessness, or in foster care, or going through any other situation where they have to move around a lot. She says kids are also more open to carpooling, a feature that has struggled to catch on with the big ride-share services like Uber and Lyft.
“These increased individualized needs are really wreaking havoc on a fixed-route school bus model,” she says. “We can really solve the school transportation crisis in this country and do it in a way that makes far more sense and is better for our families, it’s better for our communities and it’s better for our schools.”
Waymo's application to expand California robotaxi operations paused by regulators
Waymo’s application to expand its robotaxi service in Los Angeles and San Mateo counties has been suspended for 120 days by the California Public Utilities Commission’s Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division (CPED).
The decision doesn’t change Waymo’s ability to commercially operate driverless vehicles in San Francisco. However, it does put an abrupt halt to the company’s aspirations to expand where it can operate — at least until June 2024.
The CPED said on its website that the application has been suspended for further staff review. The “suspension” of an advice letter is a procedural part of the CPUC’s standard and robust review process, according to Waymo.
A CPUC spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email that Waymo’s “Advice Letter was suspended to consider our staff review. Such a suspension is not an uncommon practice.”
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors vice president David J. Canepa took a different stance, however.
“Since Waymo has stalled any meaningful discussions on its expansion plans into Silicon Valley, the CPUC has put the brakes on its application to test robotaxi service virtually unfettered both in San Mateo and Los Angeles counties,” Canepa said. “This will provide the opportunity to fully engage the autonomous vehicle maker on our very real public safety concerns that have caused all kinds of dangerous situations for firefighters and police in neighboring San Francisco.”
Waymo noted that it has reached out to two dozen government and business organizations as part of its outreach effort, including officials in cities throughout San Mateo County such as Burlingame, Daly City and Foster City, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and local chambers of commerce.
Waymo operates a commercial service 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout San Francisco. Waymo is also allowed to give people free driverless rides in parts of Los Angeles. The company kicked off robotaxi ride testing with employees in Santa Monica around March 2023 and has since opened it up to some members of the public, but is still not able to charge for those rides.
The company filed a document in January with the Commission’s Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division seeking review and approval of its updated safety plan and an expansion of its “operational design domain (ODD),” an industry term that means where its driverless vehicles can operate. Waymo is seeking approval to expand operations in portions of the Los Angeles area and additional areas of the San Francisco Peninsula, namely in San Mateo County. That expansion is particularly important because it would include access to the San Francisco International Airport.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles, which also regulates the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles, approved the expanded ODD in January. The city of South San Francisco, Los Angeles County Department of Transportation, San Francisco County Transportation Authority, San Mateo County Office of the County Attorney and the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance have sent letters opposing the expansion.
Amazon ends California drone deliveries
Amazon confirmed it is ending Prime Air drone delivery operations in Lockeford, California. The Central California town of 3,500 was the company’s second U.S. drone delivery site, after College Station, Texas. Operations were announced in June 2022.
The retail giant is not offering details around the setback, only noting, “We’ll offer all current employees opportunities at other sites, and will continue to serve customers in Lockeford with other delivery methods. We want to thank the community for all their support and feedback over the past few years.”
College Station deliveries will continue, along with a forthcoming site in Tolleson, Arizona set to kick off deliveries later this year. Tolleson, a city of just over 7,000, is located in Maricopa County, in the western portion of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Prime Air’s arrival brings same-day deliveries to Amazon customers in the region, courtesy of a hybrid fulfillment center/delivery station. The company says it will be contacting impacted customers when the service is up and running. There’s no specific information on timing beyond “this year,” owing, in part, to ongoing negotiations with both local officials and the FAA required to deploy in the airspace.
Expansion of the offering has been extremely slow going, in part due to regulatory matters. For much of the project’s life, it has seemed as if Amazon was simply dipping its toes in the unproven waters of drone delivery. It seems that Tolleson will be the service’s sole expansion this calendar year, with additional news held off until 2025. It remains to be seen whether the company will re-engage with California locales.
Amazon did reassert its commitment late last year, with the announcement of medication deliveries in College Station, bringing select Amazon Pharmacy orders to customers in less than an hour.
Select local governments clearly see these sorts of deals as an opportunity to advertise an openness to technological innovation outside of traditional hot spots like San Francisco or New York.
“This kind of delivery is the future, and it’s exciting that it will be starting in the Phoenix Metro Area,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego says. “The shift toward zero-emission package delivery will help us reduce local pollution and further cement our city as a hotbed for the innovative technology of tomorrow.”