The daily business briefing: January 30, 2018

Waymo orders more Chrysler minivans for its autonomous ride-hailing service, U.S. stock selloff heads into second day, and more

Waymo CEO debutes a Chrysler Hybrid
(Image credit: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

1. Waymo to buy thousands more Chrysler minivans for autonomous ride-hailing service

Google's self-driving vehicle arm, Waymo, will buy thousands more Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans as it prepares to launch an autonomous ride-hailing service in Phoenix later this year, Fiat Chrysler said Tuesday. Waymo had already ordered 600 Pacificas, so the additional vans are expected to be used as Waymo expands to more cities. The size of the deal is expected to give a boost to the development of self-driving cars, generally. "In order to move quickly and efficiently in autonomy, it is essential to partner with like-minded technology leaders," said the automaker's CEO Sergio Marchionne in a statement. "Our partnership with Waymo continues to grow and strengthen; this represents the latest sign of our commitment to this technology."

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.