Autonomous

While venture capitalists salivate over sentient transport trucks and robot SUVs that can safely navigate a Boston blizzard, some of the smartest self-driving engineers are making progress flipping chicken sandwiches.

Walmart is taking an undisclosed stake in Cruise, the autonomous-vehicle technology company that’s majority-owned by General Motors Co.

Autonomous truck developer TuSimple raised $1.35 billion through its initial public offering, a move that will help fund the company’s push to commercialize self-driving trucks and expand its autonomous freight network across the United States.

Audi’s new Q4 e-tron will go head-to-head with Tesla Inc. in the fast-growing market of compact crossover SUVs to help parent Volkswagen AG narrow its electric-car sales gap with the world leader.

DETROIT — Autonomous electric shuttles slated to be built in Detroit will be on the streets of Dubai after an agreement between self-driving company Cruise, which is largely owned by General Motors Co., and Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority.

Domino’s, the world’s largest pizza company, on April 12 began offering autonomous pizza delivery services to select customers in Houston through a partnership with self-driving delivery vehicle company Nuro.

Self-driving truck technology developer Plus announced it signed a memorandum of understanding with Iveco, a brand of CNH Industrial N.V., to jointly develop autonomous trucks that will be deployed across China, Europe and other areas.

Huawei Technologies Co. will invest $1 billion on researching self-driving and electric-car technologies, accelerating plans to compete with Tesla Inc. and Xiaomi Corp. in the world’s biggest vehicle arena.

WASHINGTON — Two big South Korean electric vehicle battery makers have settled a long-running trade dispute that will allow one company to move ahead with plans to manufacture batteries in Georgia. President Joe Biden called it “a win for American workers and the American auto industry.”

WASHINGTON — As autonomous vehicle testing advances without cohesive federal guidelines, companies are operating under inconsistent or nonexistent rules for how and whether a vehicle is monitored and controlled on the road.