Tech
Moon cars built to face -240C ‘fortnight of darkness’ at Moon revealed
Planning a road trip on the Moon? There are some space-age motors you’ll want to consider.
Nasa is working with three companies to design, build, and test a new Lunar Terrain Vehicle.
This LTV is designed to shuttle astronauts around during the manned Artemis mission to the lunar surface.
And the final model is expected to handle on-Moon transport right through to 2039.
It will be tough enough to handle the “extreme conditions” at the Moon’s South Pole, according to Nasa.
On top of that, it will need to be able to drive itself around through the power of artificial intelligence.
“We will use the LTV to travel to locations we might not otherwise be able to reach on foot,” said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at Nasa.
“Increasing our ability to explore and make new scientific discoveries.
“With the Artemis crewed missions, and during remote operations when there is not a crew on the surface, we are enabling science and discovery on the Moon year around.”
Part three of the Artemis mission – which is the first set to see astronauts descend to the Moon’s surface – is expected to take place as soon as 2026, though it could be delayed.
They are Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab.
The Intuitive Machines rover is called RACER, and it’s being developed by a partnership that includes Boeing, Michelin, and Northrop Grumman.
It has lunar wheels that can operate at temperatures above 100C and below -240C.
And they promise to “withstand exposure to solar and galactic radiation”.
It looks a bit like a giant go-kart, complete with bright headlights, slick illuminated Moon Racer branding, and what looks like very comfortable padded seating.
Next up is Lunar Outpost’s Lunar Dawn LTV, which is described as “an extraordinarily capable off-road robotic transportation system”.
It’s pitched as being able to carry crew and cargo on the Moon and Mars.
This one looks a bit more like a milk truck, and is being developed in partnership with tyre giant Goodyear.
“The LTV is capable of operating in the most extreme environments continuously,” Lunar Outpost explains.
“With minimal need for maintenance and a focus on Astronaut safety, the LTV will enable the Artemis campaign to thrive furthering critical Science objectives and enabling a sustainable Moon base.”
Third on the list is perhaps the most bizarre – looking less like a car and more like something from Mad Max.
It’s the Venturi LTV, and it can be piloted remotely from Earth, by astronauts on the Moon – or even drive itself around using AI.
“We have created much more than a rover for use on the Moon or Mars,” Venturi explained.
“Our rover is a logistics system capable of handling a wide variety of cargo.
“We believe that this approach will enable a permanent lunar outpost to be established on the Moon at a lower cost and in less time than expected.”
OpenAI and Japanese conglomerate SoftBank (9984.T) will each commit $19 billion to fund Stargate, a joint venture to develop data centers for artificial intelligence in the U.S., the Information reported on Wednesday.
The ChatGPT maker will hold a 40% interest in Stargate, and would act as an extension of OpenAI, the report said, citing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaking to colleagues. His comments imply SoftBank would also have a 40% interest, the report added.
OpenAI and SoftBank did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that OpenAI, SoftBank Group and Oracle (ORCL.N) will unveil Stargate and invest $500 billion over the next four years to help the United States stay ahead of China and other rivals in the global AI race.
Stargate will initially deploy $100 billion and the rest of the funding is expected over the next four years. The project is being led by SoftBank and OpenAI.
Taiwan’s HTC (2498.TW) said on Thursday it will sell part of its unit for extended reality (XR) headsets and glasses to Google (GOOGL.O) for $250 million and transfer some of its employees to the U.S. company.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of this year, HTC said.
The two companies will also explore further collaboration opportunities, HTC added.
Google said in a separate statement that the deal will accelerate the development of the Android XR platform and strengthen the ecosystem for headsets and glasses.
Lu Chia-te, HTC vice president and general counsel, told reporters the company had granted its intellectual property rights to Google as a non-exclusive license.
“Therefore, this is not a buyout nor an exclusive licence. In the future, HTC will still retain the ability to use, utilise, and even further develop it without any restrictions,” he said.
Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) LinkedIn has been sued by Premium customers who said the business-focused social media platform disclosed their private messages to third parties without permission to train generative artificial intelligence models.
According to a proposed class action filed on Tuesday night on behalf of millions of LinkedIn Premium customers, LinkedIn quietly introduced a privacy setting last August that let users enable or disable the sharing of their personal data.
Customers said LinkedIn then discreetly updated its privacy policy on Sept. 18 to say data could be used to train AI models, and in a “frequently asked questions” hyperlink said opting out “does not affect training that has already taken place.”
This attempt to “cover its tracks” suggests LinkedIn was fully aware it violated customers’ privacy and its promise to use personal data only to support and improve its platform, in order to minimize public scrutiny and legal fallout, the complaint said.
The lawsuit was filed in the San Jose, California, federal court on behalf of LinkedIn Premium customers who sent or received InMail messages, and whose private information was disclosed to third parties for AI training before Sept. 18.
It seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract and violations of California’s unfair competition law, and $1,000 per person for violations of the federal Stored Communications Act.
A lawyer for Prince Harry on Wednesday said the Duke of Sussex had reached a settlement with Rupert Murdoch’s news conglomerate.
LinkedIn said in a statement: “These are false claims with no merit.”
A lawyer for the plaintiffs had no immediate additional comment.
The lawsuit was filed several hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a joint venture among Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Oracle (ORCL.N) and SoftBank (9984.T), with a potential $500 billion of investment, to build AI infrastructure in the United States.
OpenAI, SoftBank each commit 19bn dollars to Stargate AI data center
Taiwan’s HTC to sell part of XR unit to Google for 250mn dollars
Microsoft’s LinkedIn sued for disclosing customer information to train AI models
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