Business

‘This Experience May Feel Futuristic:’ Three Rides in Waymo Robot Taxis

Published

1 year ago

August 21, 2023

‘This Experience May Feel Futuristic:’ Three Rides in Waymo Robot Taxis

“Hello, Tripp,” a disembodied woman’s voice said through the speakers of a driverless taxi that was about to pick up a fare near the colorful Victorian houses known as the Painted Ladies.

“This experience may feel futuristic” the voice said. “Please don’t touch the steering wheel or pedals during the ride. For any questions, you can find information in the Waymo app, like how we keep our cars safe or clean.”

For several years, San Francisco’s hilly and congested streets have doubled as a test track for hundreds of driverless cars operated by Waymo, an autonomous vehicle company owned by the Google parent company Alphabet, and General Motors-owned Cruise.

The New York Times dispatched three reporters across the city to test Waymo’s robot taxis. I started in Alamo Square, home to the famous Painted Ladies houses. Yiwen Lu started her ride at the Marina Green, along San Francisco’s northern waterfront, and Mike Issac started his ride near the historic Mission Dolores Basilica.

Our destination: The Beach Chalet restaurant, where San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park meets the Pacific Ocean. Waymo is offering only limited rides into San Francisco’s downtown area, so we tried to duplicate the experience a tourist might have bopping around the city in a driverless taxi.

The roughly five-mile trips were two parts “Driving Miss Daisy” and one part NASCAR. Two rides carefully avoided congestion, and one seemed to embrace it.

Waymo’s robot taxi rides began as tensions escalated over the driverless cars in San Francisco. City officials and activists are urging state officials to reverse or slow a plan for Waymo and Cruise to begin charging passengers for rides throughout the city, round the clock.

Last week, a Cruise driverless car collided with a fire truck responding to an emergency. Another Cruise vehicle got stuck in wet cement. The week before, several Cruise cars blocked traffic in the city’s North Beach neighborhood. On Friday, state regulators asked Cruise to halve the number of vehicles it operated.

Waymo has had fewer headline-worthy troubles. In May, one of its cars struck and killed a small dog. A few years ago, a driverless Waymo car with a human safety driver behind the wheel hit a pedestrian who needed to be taken to the hospital. The company has been collecting fares in the Phoenix area for several years and now has a fleet navigating some 200 miles across the region, including to and from the airport.

Waymo’s app, Waymo One, looks and works just like Uber’s does. Riders enter their destination and get an estimated wait time for a ride. Once you enter your requests, the company dispatches from its fleet of 250 white Jaguar vehicles it operates across the city. The cars are staggeringly expensive, outfitted with high-tech sensors and cameras, and are worth as much as $200,000.

Each of us waited five to 10 minutes for a ride.

The Waymo experience can be confusing for a first timer. When the car pulled up to the curb beside the Painted Ladies, I reached for the door handle. But the handles were flush against the door and wouldn’t open. I needed to press an “unlock” button on the app. When I did, the handles shot out from the door and I was able to climb inside.

My ride was so smooth, the novelty began to wear off, turning a trip to the future into just another journey across town. The car was precise and deliberate, albeit without the flexibility or interactions you would have with a human driver. It paused for pedestrians and yielded to emergency vehicles.

Like my ride, Yiwen’s trip was downright sleepy. The car was dryly precise. It never exceeded the speed limit, used its turn signal well in advance of a lane change and yielded to pedestrians in crosswalks that speedy drivers might disregard.

Mike’s robot taxi, however, was more aggressive. It jumped off the starting line with more acceleration than he had expected. He was mystified by the way the car zipped through several tightly packed neighborhoods before settling into the drive to the beach.

When my Waymo approached a construction project blocking the right lane, it slowed to 20 miles per hour from 30 miles per hour and flipped on its turn signal to pull into the left lane. Moments later, the car was at a stop sign as a fire engine approached with flashing lights. The Waymo hesitated. A touch screen showed a brief explanation: “Yielding to emergency vehicle.” It waited until the fire truck passed to accelerate through the intersection.

The steering wheel twisted and turned on its own. I wondered what would happen if I touched the wheel, so I grabbed it as the Waymo merged from one lane to another. The car ignored me and drove on.

Yiwen’s ride began with a complication: an accident, not involving the Waymo, next to a parking lot at Marina Green. Police cars were blocking part of the roadway so the Waymo car quickly changed its route. Instead of taking the main street, the Waymo car drove onto a nearby residential street and went around the accident.

The cars were all quick to respond to pedestrians. My ride patiently waited at intersections and crosswalks as people walked their dogs, sipped coffee and rode their bikes toward Golden Gate Park.

But at the top of a hill, Mike’s car recognized a man crossing the road in a designated crosswalk but kept creeping forward slowly while it waited for him to get to the other side. The pedestrian gave the car — and Mike — an annoyed look.

The cars offer more bells and whistles than an Uber or a taxicab. Touch screens in the back seats are outfitted with a button to turn on music. There are a series of playlists to choose from, including jazz, classical, rock and hip-hop.

Mike wanted to listen to a punk band called Armed and tried to find the group’s music on the Waymo app. But to do so, he needed to download an app called Google Assistant and request a specific song by speaking into his phone’s mic. His first attempt brought up the wrong band and his second brought up a live version of the song he requested.

Instead of taking the most direct route to the beach down a congested street, my Waymo crossed Golden Gate Park and drove down a less congested street, but that added a few minutes to the journey. It puttered most of the way at 29 miles per hour — one mile per hour under the speed limit — and deferred to other drivers. At one point, it sat for a few minutes behind a car waiting to turn left rather than merging into the right lane to go around that vehicle.

My Waymo pulled into a parking lot six minutes later than it had initially predicted. It glided through the parking lot to a small, empty space where the map on the touch screen showed a circle. Once it pulled into the circle, it stopped.

“You’re here,” the woman said. “Please make sure it’s clear before exiting.”

As I climbed out of the car, it filled with the meditative electronic music that greeted me at the start of the drive. Mike arrived shortly after me.

Yiwen’s car was less direct. At the beginning of her journey, it told her that there would be a two-minute walk to the restaurant from her drop-off point. The car reminded her of that as it arrived and encouraged her to use the app to guide her as she walked to the Beach Chalet.

The Waymo rides were affordable, ranging from $18 to $21, about the same as an Uber. It’s going to take years — if not decades — for Waymo to recoup the billions of dollars that it has invested in its service. Though there’s no driver, each ride is supported by staff at a Waymo site that can be summoned if a car runs into trouble.

But that’s Waymo’s problem. For the rest of us, it’s easy to forget no one is behind the wheel of the robot taxis. The only reminder comes as you start to thank the driver before climbing out of the car. A glimpse at the empty front seat reminds you that you’re all alone.

Business

Starbucks Reverses Its Open-Door Policy for Bathroom Use and Lounging

Published

1 hour ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Starbucks Reverses Its Open-Door Policy for Bathroom Use and Lounging

Starbucks will require people visiting its coffee shops to buy something in order to stay or to use its bathrooms, the company announced in a letter sent to store managers on Monday.

The new policy, outlined in a Code of Conduct, will be enacted later this month and applies to the company’s cafes, patios and bathrooms.

“Implementing a Coffeehouse Code of Conduct is something most retailers already have and is a practical step that helps us prioritize our paying customers who want to sit and enjoy our cafes or need to use the restroom during their visit,” Jaci Anderson, a Starbucks spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.

Ms. Anderson said that by outlining expectations for customers the company “can create a better environment for everyone.”

The Code of Conduct will be displayed in every store and prohibit behaviors including discrimination, harassment, smoking and panhandling.

People who violate the rules will be asked to leave the store, and employees may call law enforcement, the policy says.

Before implementation of the new policy begins on Jan. 27, store managers will be given 40 hours to prepare stores and workers, according to the company. There will also be training sessions for staff.

This training time will be used to prepare for other new practices, too, including asking customers if they want their drink to stay or to go and offering unlimited free refills of hot or iced coffee to customers who order a drink to stay.

The changes are part of an attempt by the company to prioritize customers and make the stores more inviting, Sara Trilling, the president of Starbucks North America, said in a letter to store managers.

“We know from customers that access to comfortable seating and a clean, safe environment is critical to the Starbucks experience they love,” she wrote. “We’ve also heard from you, our partners, that there is a need to reset expectations for how our spaces should be used, and who uses them.”

The changes come as the company responds to declining sales, falling stock prices and grumbling from activist investors. In August, the company appointed a new chief executive, Brian Niccol.

Mr. Niccol outlined changes the company needed to make in a video in October. “We will simplify our overly complex menu, fix our pricing architecture and ensure that every customer feels Starbucks is worth it every single time they visit,” he said.

The new purchase requirement reverses a policy Starbucks instituted in 2018 that said people could use its cafes and bathrooms even if they had not bought something.

The earlier policy was introduced a month after two Black men were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks while waiting to meet another man for a business meeting.

Officials said that the men had asked to use the bathroom, but that an employee had refused the request because they had not purchased anything. An employee then called the police, and part of the ensuing encounter was recorded on video and viewed by millions of people online, prompting boycotts and protests.

In 2022, Howard Schultz, the Starbucks chief executive at the time, said that the company was reconsidering the open-bathroom policy.

Business

'TikTok refugees' unexpectedly turn to Chinese alternative as ban looms

Published

2 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

'TikTok refugees' unexpectedly turn to Chinese alternative as ban looms

TAIPEI, Taiwan — TikTok users concerned about a looming ban are finding solace in a strange place.

Days ahead of a Supreme Court decision that could determine whether the popular short-video app shuts down starting Sunday, a number of users appear to be turning to an app called RedNote — more commonly known to its majority-Chinese audience by its Chinese name, Xiaohongshu.

It’s a surprising choice since Xiaohongshu is Chinese-owned, and such ties are the reason U.S. lawmakers moved to ban TikTok in the U.S., citing privacy and national security concerns.

Also Xiaohongshu is dominated by Chinese language, and its content is subject to censorship by Chinese government officials, something alien to most U.S. users.

But by embracing a Chinese social media and lifestyle app similar to Instagram, some U.S. TikTok users say they are protesting what they believe is the unfair ban of the ubiquitous app.

“I think America is trying to bully China into selling to an American owner. A lot of us just don’t want to give in to them,” said Samantha Manassero, a 39-year-old nurse in L.A. who downloaded Xiaohongshu on Sunday night after watching content creators on TikTok pitch it as a comparable app. “I think some of it is literally just pettiness.”

Last year, Congress passed a bill that requires TikTok’s owner, Bytedance, to sell the app to a U.S.-approved owner or face a nationwide ban. As soon as Wednesday, the Supreme Court is expected to uphold the legality of the ban.

It was unclear whether Xiaohongshu, which was started in 2013, would become a viable alternative to TikTok or if the recent migration to the Chinese platform accounts for a significant share of TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users.

But a surge in new users made Xiaohongshu the top free download on Apple’s App Store this week. No. 2 on the charts was another social media app developed by Bytedance, Lemon8. It’s unclear whether either app will be subjected to the same U.S. government scrutiny as TikTok.

It is also difficult to determine exactly how many U.S. TikTok users have created accounts on Xiaohongshu or how many will stay on it. While many Xiaohongshu regulars have welcomed the influx of Americans identifying themselves as “TikTok refugees,” the app’s interface is largely in Chinese, making it difficult to navigate for non-native speakers.

Chinese apps are subject to stringent censorship on discussions that the Chinese government deems politically sensitive. These topics can range from illegal activities to LGBTQ+ rights to Winnie the Pooh, images of which have been used to mock Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Chinese version of TikTok, called Douyin, has different content restrictions and is only available for mobile download in China. Bytedance has argued that TikTok, which is used by the rest of the world, is a separate entity from Douyin and not beholden to the Chinese Communist Party.

That did not stop President-elect Donald Trump from proposing a ban of TikTok in 2020, or President Biden from signing it into law in 2024.

The legality of such a ban has been questioned several times. Last month, in an about-face, Trump, who has 14.8 million followers on TikTok, filed a legal brief requesting to stay the ban so he can negotiate a deal once he takes office.

As TikTok faces an uncertain future, Xiaohongshu’s latest arrivals were eager to try out the new app despite its foreign nature.

Manassero, who posts videos about healthcare and power lifting to about 7,000 followers on TikTok, said she already has a much larger audience of 26,000 on Instagram. However, she was motivated to create an account on Xiaohongshu partly out of frustration at the U.S. government’s determination to outlaw TikTok.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know what I’m reading, I’m just pressing buttons,” Manassero said in her first video post. The next morning, her account had received 5,000 views and 3,500 new followers. By Tuesday, the hashtag “Tiktok refugee” had received more than 90 million views and 2 million comments.

TikTokers sought each other out with introductions, follow requests and shared tips on how to navigate the app’s Chinese functions. On Monday, more than 190,000 viewers joined a live chat named “TikTok Refugees Club,” and held discussions in English about what a TikTok ban would mean and future plans for social media content. In the comments, users greeted new arrivals and lamented they could not understand each other.

“Maybe you can learn how to speak Chinese,” one user wrote in English.

“Where’s the translator?” another viewer asked in Chinese.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese officials had discussed the possibility of selling TikTok to a trusted non-Chinese party such as Elon Musk, who already owns social media platform X. However, analysts said that Bytedance is unlikely to agree to a sale of the underlying algorithm that powers the app, meaning the platform under a new owner could still look drastically different.

Manassero and other TikTokers expressed distaste at the prospect of migrating to U.S. tech platforms such as Instagram or X that could benefit from an influx of users if TikTok shuts down.

“We don’t want to turn around and make a bunch of billionaires even more rich,” she said. “I would honestly rather the app get shut down than be owned by Elon Musk.”

Though she is still trying to figure out how to use Xiaohongshu and message people back, Manassero said she would likely stay on the Chinese lifestyle app regardless of whether the TikTok ban goes through.

“The response has been so friendly and nice. It’s good energy,” she said. “This feels like the early TikTok days: a little more organic, so it’s fun.”

Business

Why TikTok Users Are Downloading ‘Red Note,’ the Chinese App

Published

9 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Why TikTok Users Are Downloading ‘Red Note,’ the Chinese App

Manimatana Lee spent the past five years building one of the hottest commodities on the internet: a group of people who reliably watch her videos on TikTok.

She built an audience of nearly 10,000 followers with videos of herself vacuuming her house in Wisconsin while her youngest daughter napped in a carrier on her back. A video of Ms. Lee dancing and doing the dishes — while wearing her sleeping baby — has been watched more than one million times since November.

Now, with the Supreme Court soon to rule in a case that could determine whether TikTok could be banned in the United States over national security concerns, Ms. Lee and other Americans looking for alternatives are downloading Xiaohongshu, a social media app that is popular in China and little known outside the country.

“How funny would it be if they ban TikTok and we all just move over to this Chinese app,” Ms. Lee wrote on Monday on TikTok encouraging her followers to join her.

Xiaohongshu was the most downloaded free app in the U.S. Apple store on Tuesday. Over 300 million people, mostly in China, use the app, where they share short videos as well as still, text-based posts. People flocking to it said, in interviews and on the app, that they wanted to show they do not share Washington’s concerns about TikTok’s ties to China.

TikTok, which is available in more than 150 countries but not China, is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance. American creators who post videos on TikTok say the app has been a source of connection, entertainment and information since it became a sensation during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its secret sauce is its proprietary algorithm, technology that recommends a constant stream of short videos targeted to keep people scrolling.

But lawmakers in the United States and other countries have warned that the Chinese government could use TikTok to access data about its users such as location and browsing histories. Officials in Washington say they are also concerned that China could use TikTok to spread false information among the 170 million people who use it in the United States.

Xiaohongshu means “little red book” in Mandarin. Americans new to the app said they were not put off by the reference to a book of Mao Zedong’s sayings. Many call the app “Red Note.”

“I don’t really care if I’m using a Chinese app at all,” said Ms. Lee. “It’s like a place for me to escape reality. And if it’s making me feel good, I’m here for it.”

A group of American creators have sued the government over the law that could see the TikTok app forcibly sold or banned in the United States, and TikTok is paying their legal fees. Ms. Lee and another creator said in interviews that their interest in Xiaohongshu had not been incentivized by either company. TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.

The Americans on Xiaohongshu have rallied under the hashtag “TikTokrefugee,” which had been viewed 100 million times and sparked around 2.5 million discussion threads on the app by Tuesday.

Joining the app has put American users in closer contact with people online in China than they have ever been on TikTok. In China, people use Douyin, a very similar app that ByteDance used to develop the technology that made TikTok a worldwide hit. Douyin is difficult to access outside China.

Many shared tips on how to navigate the app, which is mainly made for and used by people who read and speak Mandarin. Some took screenshots and asked ChatGPT to translate posts, they said.

Xiaohongshu displays the city or province of Chinese users who post and comment, and the country for users outside China. “We are coming to the Chinese spies and begging them to let us stay here,” said one American user. “Approved, welcome to Red Note,” someone in Shanghai replied.

Until late December, 85 percent of Xiaohongshu traffic was from China, according to Similarweb, a data provider and website traffic tracker. The app is especially popular among women in their 20s and 30s, and its long comment threads have become a popular source of information for people to swap questions about everyday concerns, similar to Reddit.

Xiaohongshu did not respond to requests for comment.

On Tuesday, more than 100,000 people had joined a live group chat hosted by a user named “TikTok Refugee Club,” where people from around the world chatted with Chinese users about urban safety. In another group chat, which had been viewed more than 30,000 times, participants discussed censorship and shared tips in the comments on how to avoid being banned from the platform for bringing up politically sensitive topics.

Under another video posted by someone who said they were usually on TikTok, a user in China responded with a meme of a cat with paws outstretched. “I’m your Chinese spy,” the comment said, “give me all your data.”