Bonum Certa Men Certa

Matthew Garrett’s Employer, Aurora, is Nearly Valueless and Looking to be Acquired by Microsoft

Matthew Garrett’s employer, Aurora, is nearly valueless and looking to be acquired by Microsoft.



Matthew Garrett

Matthew Garrett

Aurora

Aurora

Reprinted with permission from Ryan

Matthew Garrett is the person who put Microsoft’s “Secure Boot” into GNU/Linux (which is designed to give Microsoft control over whether you can use a different OS on YOUR PC).



Almost like something from the Terran Empire Universe of Star Trek, the Free Software Foundation gave him an award for promoting Microsoft’s PC sabotage.



Garrett is a person who spends a lot of his free time essentially harassing Techrights, both in the IRC channel, and spouting what I feel is misleading information, outright lies, and negative propaganda about us on his Twitter account.



He works for a “self-driving” car company called Aurora Innovation, Inc.



We’re led to believe, according to Garrett, that he left Google (a stable company that makes money) to work at Aurora of his own volition.



Today I learned that Aurora is in deep shit.



This is what happened to their stock this year. Down nearly 80%.



I’d have to say it’s probably due to the recession and the rising interest rates at the Fed that investors are not in the mood to keep throwing money at this. Money that is getting a lot more expensive to borrow.



I noticed this when I came across a Bloomberg article about the bottom falling out of the self-driving car bubble.



“It’s a scam,” says George Hotz, whose company Comma.ai Inc. makes a driver-assistance system similar to Tesla Inc.’s Autopilot. “These companies have squandered tens of billions of dollars.” […] Aurora Innovation Inc., a startup co-founded by Chris Urmson, Google’s former autonomous-vehicle chief, has lost more than 85% since last year and is now worth less than $3 billion. This September a leaked memo from Urmson summed up Aurora’s cash-flow struggles and suggested it might have to sell out to a larger company.

-Bloomberg Article


When I went to look up the share price to take a picture, the related news had the following, which appears to corroborate the Bloomberg story about the leaked memo, and says that Aurora is seeking a takeover from “Microsoft or Apple”.



Report: Aurora ponders possible sale to Microsoft or Apple amid other options



A few months ago, I laughed and called self-driving cars a pipe dream.



I also said anyone working in this field should be keeping their résumé updated because nobody wants it and it doesn’t actually work.



Earlier in the Bloomberg story, it spoke of a woman in San Francisco that had to go to CBS news because Google’s Waymo cars kept breaking the law and using her driveway as a turnaround dozens of times a day.



Other “self-driving” car companies have had to pay out money for running over pedestrians and saying the software thought they were a shopping bag, and in many cases the owner of the car is held liable for doing stupid things like riding in the back seat while the Tesla runs into a parked police car.



There’s other examples, but the technology just obviously isn’t going anywhere soon.



Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM's CEO Roasted, Sizzled and Grilled for Dumb and Inconsistent Vapourware Promises
It looks like being a chronic liar is what it takes to lead the company once synonymous with computing
Who Imitates Who? Plagiarist as Client (From Microsoft), 'Plagiarism' at the Law Firm?
let's revisit the subject
 
Links 11/06/2025: More Vulnerabilities Found in 'Smart' Phones, China Extends Reach in the Pacific
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/06/2025: Grain and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Links 11/06/2025: "Quantum" Hype From IBM, US Closer to Martial Law, and “The Nation” Celebrates Milestone
Links for the day
IBM's Goal Is Not (and Never Was) Computer Users' Freedom
More than 1.5 decades ago I found IBM to be an "ally of convenience" because of OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Wayland Shows the IBM/Red Hat Way of Doing Things
IBM is trying to 'kill' X
GitHub is Proprietary, Controlled by Microsoft, and GPL Violation Warehouse
"IRS tax filing software [will be] released to the people as free software" ... In general this is good news
Slopfarm Catastrophe
Seems like BetaNews (or BetaNoise) has just suffered a major data loss and restored the site from a week-old backup
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VIII: Illegal Working Conditions
How many people need to die for these people to get their massive salaries?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Links 10/06/2025: Apple Hype and Physical Attacks on Bloggers
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/06/2025: Loon Lake, Farming, and Forth
Links for the day
Links 10/06/2025: Jaws at 50 and US Democracy Crushed Very Rapidly (Martial Law Seems Imminent)
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VII: Washing Their Hands After Corruption and Abuse
"Tragedy or comedy?"
Culling Bad RSS Feeds of Bad Sites
Not throwing out the baby with the bathwater
If 'Microsoft v Techrights' is Dealt With by a 'Microsoft Court' (or a Court Outsourced to Microsoft)
More on that later
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 09, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 09, 2025
Gemini Protocol Turns Six in 10 Days From Now
If you haven't tried it yet, then give it a go today
Live as You Preach
technology is fast becoming dysphoric
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Addition Addiction and Nitride
Links for the day
Links 09/06/2025: Science, Hardware Projects, and Democracy Receding
Links for the day
Computers Got Smaller, So GNU/Linux Got Bigger
Many people here recognise the lack of urgency (or need) to get expensive new laptops
BetaNews is a Plagiarism and LLM Slop Hub, the Chief Editor Isn't Addressing This Problem Anymore
SS Fagioli is basically a parasite leeching off or exploiting other people's work
Links 09/06/2025: Chaos in Los Angeles and Hurricane Season
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Grows at Windows' Expense and Microsoft Trolls Infest and Maliciously Target Articles About It
Microsoft is - and has long been - organised crime
They Say I'm Mr. Bombastic
They didn't take good lawyers
Links 09/06/2025: Windows TCO and Many Data Breaches
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VI: Political Stunts by Former President Edyta Demby-Siwek and the Connection to Profound Corruption at EUIPO
it's like a money-laundering operation where one politician rewards another at taxpayers' expense
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Pipelines and Splitgate
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 08, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 08, 2025