On Monday, May 7, the self-driving car company Drive.ai (based out of California) announced that it will be launching its first pilot project (ironic, as these will be basically pilot-less vehicles) of self-driving shuttles in Frisco, Texas. The vehicles will be powered by Artificial Intelligence (hence the dot-A.I. in the company’s name). The City of Frisco has agreed to be the testing grounds for the project this summer.
The six-month program will make history as the first time such a service will be offered in Texas, and, should all go well, the A.I. shuttle service will expand. For now, the launch is anticipated for July 2018. A part of the Drive.ai plan is to shuttle over 10 thousand individuals in these fully autonomous vehicles which will be bright orange in color, well branded (for visibility), and equipped with four external screens which will communicate to its driving counterparts and to pedestrians what the vehicle’s intended actions will be.