San Diego, CA
What’s with those weird-looking cars on San Diego streets?
There’s another tech company tooling around San Diego.
Nuro, an autonomous driving technology company based in Silicon Valley, has deployed a test car onto the streets of Hillcrest, Little Italy, Bankers Hill and portions of downtown and Golden Hill.
The vehicle is not driverless; the Toyota Prius hybrid that Nuro is using has a human behind the wheel who is trained to operate it.
Equipped with sensors that include radar, lidar and cameras on the roof, the car is collecting data as part of a larger testing program Nuro has in place in selected cities across the country to help accelerate a self-driving future.
The vehicle gathers virtually countless data inputs such as traffic lights, stop signs, driving patterns and safety points, and then process the information “into a single view of the world around it,” said David Salguero, Nuro’s head of communications.
“The cars have onboard processing and storage, and then we use cloud computing to take that data and train our model,” he said.
Nuro chose San Diego as one of its test sites because the city combines urban, coastal and residential neighborhoods with a transportation network that serves drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and public transit.
But that does not mean the company has plans to launch autonomous service in the San Diego area.
Rather, Nuro makes money by developing self-driving tech and then licensing it to automakers and mobility platforms. Those partners then make the decision whether to bring autonomous driving — be it commercial fleets, robotaxis or even personal car services — into a given area.
In cities such as San Diego, “we are starting to build the foundation so that if and when our partners want to deploy there, we’ve already laid a lot of the groundwork,” Salguero said. “It’s kind of like digging the well before you’re thirsty, as it were.”
Nuro’s work thus far is highly targeted, so it only requires a single vehicle in San Diego that will operate for about 10 days, covering a focused five-square-mile area.
“We’ll be back for the next stage of testing down the line and will have more to share then,” Salguero said.
At least one other autonomous driving company has also taken to the streets of San Diego.
Waymo earlier this year started conducting test drives with humans behind the wheel in similar neighborhoods, as well as Route 163 and Interstate 5.
“This testing will show us where we should further tune our perception models before expanding to new cities,” a spokesperson for the Bay Area company owned by Google parent Alphabet Inc., told the Union-Tribune in February.
Waymo has already deployed driverless cars/taxis in parts of San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Phoenix and Los Angeles but the company has not announced any plans to roll out service in the San Diego area.
“This testing will show us where we should further tune our perception models before expanding to new cities,” the Waymo spokesperson said.
Waymo rides are also available in Atlanta and Austin, Texas, through the Uber app, and the company has announced plans to expand to Miami and Washington D.C.
Autonomous driving has moved from concept to reality in recent years, with many transportation experts predicting a revolutionary change in the auto industry.
Tesla has implemented autopilot and self-driving features on its vehicles that include traffic-aware cruise control, semi-autonomous navigation, response to traffic lights and the ability to summon the car from a parking space. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he’s staking his company’s future on investments in robotics, autonomous vehicles technology and artificial intelligence.
Supporters of self-driving technology say it allows drivers who, for instance, are stuck in traffic jams to spend their time on more productive tasks. Plus, autonomy can provide access to consumers who otherwise may not have access to reliable transportation.
“For example, many folks are approaching their 80s or people who at some point are no longer able to drive but live in a suburb where you have to rely on an automobile to get around,” Salguero of Nuro said. “At a certain point when autonomy is more ubiquitous and reasonably priced, they can either rely on robotaxis or on autonomous solutions in their own vehicle to get them where they need to go. That’s the vision we see for the future.”
Backers also predict an autonomous future will improve road safety and help prevent car accidents. But some consumers are leery.
Tesla is facing dozens of lawsuits tied to its autopilot and self-driving features. Last month, Waymo issued a recall after a glitch in part of its self-driving software reportedly caused some vehicles to crash into low-visibility barriers like chains and gates. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the problem affected 1,212 vehicles.
A survey released by AAA in February said that six in 10 drivers in the U.S. are afraid to ride in self-driving vehicles — although the percentage who say they are fine riding in them increased from 9% last year to 13% this year.
“For Nuro specifically, we do a lot of testing, we do a lot of validation and we do so much work before our cars are ever out on public streets,” Salguero said. “Safety’s really at the core of everything we do … So the one thing I would say to that person who was worried about self-driving cars is that it is up to Nuro and the industry to earn that trust from them.”
Salguero said Nuro’s vehicles have logged 1.2 million miles in auto-mode without any at-fault incidents.
Created in 2016 and counting about 700 employees, Nuro raised $106 million in its latest funding round, boosting its valuation to about $6 billion.
Waymo, after banking $5.6 billion in fresh capital last November, is currently valued at more than $45 billion.
Sempra, the San Diego-based Fortune 500 energy giant, announced changes in the executive suite that the company says reflect greater focus on its holdings in the utilities sector.
Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Karen Sedgwick will become the chief executive officer and president of Southern California Gas, one of Sempra’s subsidiaries.
She will be replaced by Justin Bird, who is currently the CEO of Sempra Infrastructure, the company’s subsidiary in Houston that builds, operates and invests in projects such as liquefied natural gas, or LNG, facilities.
The appointments come in the wake of a $10 billion agreement announced last fall between the Sempra parent company and KKR, one of world’s biggest investment firms. Affiliates of KKR will buy a 45% equity interest in Sempra Infrastructures Partners.
The deal, which is expected to wrap up within the next two months, underscores Sempra’s intention to concentrate the company’s investment strategy on its utility assets in Texas and California.
“This is an exciting time for our company as we continue to advance the growth of our utility businesses,” Sempra’s Chairman and CEO Jeff Martin said in a statement. “These appointments further our mission alignment and strengthen our ability to deliver long-term value for our stakeholders. Our board has great confidence in both Karen and Justin and the leadership they will bring to their new roles.”
Sempra is the parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric, as well as Dallas-based Oncor, a utility that operates the largest transmission and distribution system in Texas. Sempra affiliate SoCalGas, with headquarters in Los Angeles, is the largest natural gas distribution utility in the U.S.
Sedgwick, who has worked at various Sempra companies for more than 30 years, already serves on the SoCalGas board of directors. She replaces Maryam Brown, who left SoCalGas and was named president and chief operating officer of Indiana Michigan Power on April 27.
Bird, with more than 20 years at Sempra, will also lead the company’s investor relations, treasury, financial planning, audit, insurance and tax functions. He will continue serving on the boards of Sempra Infrastructure and Oncor.
Bird and Sedgwick will assume their new roles on or around the closing of the KKR transaction. Last month, Bob Patel was named as incoming CEO of Sempra Infrastructure.
Sempra officials believe the KKR deal will generate “substantial cash proceeds” and support “disciplined capital allocation” by simplifying the company’s business and investment strategy.
The transaction is expected to result in about 95% of Sempra’s earnings to come from U.S. regulated utilities in 2027. The company has set a goal to have 60% of its rate base located in Texas by the end of this decade.
The KKR agreement will result in a reduction in Sempra’s stake in its various LNG investments.
Sempra’s ownership share of the first phase of the Energía Costa Azul facility in Ensenada, Mexico, will be reduced from 58.4% to 20.9%.
On the U.S. Gulf Coast, Sempra’s share of Cameron LNG in Louisiana will be reduced from 35.1% to 12.6%. In addition, its share of the first phase of the Port Arthur LNG project in Texas will drop from 19.6% to 7%, and its ownership of the second phase of Port Arthur will fall from 35.1% to 12.5%.
Global entertainment company Webtoon is returning to the hallowed halls of San Diego Comic-Con with a larger-than-life slate of panels featuring top talent and fresh announcements.
They will be shining the spotlight on some of today’s most engaging webcomic creators, including Derek V. Song (Fantasy High) and Punko (Cinderella Boy).
Let’s take a look at their schedule:
Thursday, July 23 – 10am – Room 29AB
Creature Craft: Visionaries of Horror Comics Share Their Secrets
This panel features Punko, creator of Stagtown and Cinderella Boy on WEBTOON; Cullen Bunn, creator of Ripcord and Deluge for Ignition Press; and Cat Staggs, co-creator of Death Mask, and artist on Tales for a HalloweeNight for Storm King Comics. Rotem Rusak, Editor-in-Chief at Nerdist, will moderate.
Friday, July 24 – 10am – Room 32AB
Love in Every Universe: The Great Romance Trope Debate
Join ROSEOAK, creator of Not So Silent on WEBTOON, Alessandra Ferreri, Head of Content at Wattpad, E.M. Wilson, author of Situationship, and Becca Erin Title, founder of Meet Cute Romance Bookshop. The panel is moderated by Crystal Bell, the Culture Editor at Mashable.
Friday, July 24 – 1pm – Room 32AB
Adapting Fantasy High for WEBTOON with Derek V. Song
Featuring Derek V. Song, writer of Fantasy High. Fans will get a behind-the-scenes look at adapting the beloved Dimension 20 series for WEBTOON and learn more about bringing the world of Fantasy High to a new visual format.
Saturday, July 25 – 11:30am – Room 24ABC
What’s Next from WEBTOON Entertainment
Featuring Ryan Lee, Head of Content at WEBTOON; Sydney Bright, Head of Global Animation at WEBTOON Productions; Erik Kozura, Producer at WEBTOON; ROSEOAK, creator of Not So Silent; Derek V. Song, writer of Fantasy High; Punko, creator of Stagtown and Cinderella Boy; and Ucheomaaa, creator of Vibe Check! on WEBTOON. Journalist, comic critic, and 2026 Eisner judge, Tiffany Babb, will moderate. his panel will deliver a slew of announcements, exclusive first looks, and Creator appearances from its platform and entertainment businesses. Additionally, the panel will give fans a window into what’s next from WEBTOON’s most exciting stories and projects, with news from WEBTOON Originals, WEBTOON Productions, WEBTOON Unscrolled, and more.
Beachgoers in one Southern California town had to run for their lives after two massive sea lions came out of the ocean and onto the beach in San Diego.
In a video posted July 7 on Instagram, Dion Ruzicka captured the terrifying moment the two giant sea creatures hit the shore and began chasing people at the beach on a sunny California day.
One sea lion suddenly charged at stunned beachgoers, barreling across the sand as terrified visitors shrieked and sprinted away while the barking beast gave chase.
Moments later, a second sea lion joined the chaos, sending panicked crowds scrambling for higher ground — and even into the surf — to escape the pair’s path.
The more people ran, the more determined the hefty marine mammals seemed, waddling after the fleeing beachgoers in a bizarre game of chase.
“Oh my God,” one person could be heard saying, in the midst of the chaotic scramble.
It didn’t matter whether the visitor was young or old, the sea lion just kept chasing them. Finally, both animals dived back into the ocean and swam away at a quick pace.
It is not the first time such an encounter has happened in the popular La Jolla spot. A year ago, a video showed a pair of sea lions chasing beachgoers around before finally leaving.
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San Diego has warned the public about the potential dangers of going near wildlife living in the area.
“With the increase in the sea lion population, Point La Jolla has become a popular tourist destination for the public to view these wild animals close up,” a message on the city’s website read.
As a result, interactions between sea lions and the public have increased.
“Members of the public have been observed trying to touch, take selfies, and get as close to sea lions as possible which is a dangerous situation for both the public and the animals,” it added.
Officials suggest people watch the animals from the boardwalk and keep their distance from the sea lions.
While it is unclear what lead to Tuesday’s chase, the summer months are pupping season for these ocean animals. Mothers and fathers become protective of their young ones, and will display aggressive behavior, if they sense a threat, per officials.
“These interactions are not only dangerous for both humans and wildlife, it may be a violation of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act which helps to safeguard these animals,” the city said.
The California Post has reached out to the La Jolla Parks and Beaches group for further comment.
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