Waymo in Fairbanks, what's on the record and what isn't
Waymo's cars have been plugging into the chargers at Golden Valley Electric's Fairbanks lot, and a co-op staffer saw it herself.
The deck
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The story
The sun left that lot at 3:49 p.m. on November 13th.
In town, Mayor Mindy O'Neall called the testing "a great opportunity". Resident Gwen Jackson expects "they'll probably just stall out".
For the state, Governor Mike Dunleavy sees "no better proving ground for winter driving than Fairbanks".
How long the testing runs, why Fairbanks and whether driverless cars follow were still unanswered as of Alaska's News Source's November 10th report.
The deck sets Waymo's sensor claims beside what five Alaskans said, the one first-hand sighting and the three open questions.
Who should press Waymo for those answers first, the mayor, the co-op whose chargers it uses or the residents who doubt it?
What we verified
33 CLAIMS, EACH RE-FETCHED FROM ITS SOURCE BEFORE THIS DECK SHIPPED
Waymo published a blog post on November 5th about how the Waymo Driver handles severe winter weather.
Waymo said that this season in Alaska it will conduct closed-course evaluations and collect data in heavy snowfall.
Waymo says it has driven tens of thousands of real-world miles in Upstate New York, Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the Sierra Nevada.
The 6th-generation Waymo Driver uses cameras, radar and lidar.
Waymo says built-in heaters and micro-wipers keep its sensors clear in icy conditions.
Waymo says it is equipping its winter vehicles with snow tires and measuring traction changes under each wheel in real time.
Waymo says that when weather exceeds what it has validated it may reduce its service area or pause service entirely.
Golden Valley Electric Association's energy emergency page showed Level 0, normal operations, as of its October 24th posting.
Waymo vehicles were spotted in Fairbanks after a Facebook post appeared to show them charging at electric vehicle ports in the Golden Valley Electric Association parking lot.
GVEA's Ashley Bradish confirmed she had personally seen the Waymo vehicles using the co-op's charging stations.
Waymo told Alaska's News Source that the work includes manual data collection, autonomous driving with a specialist at the wheel, and limited structured testing.
Waymo spokesperson Chris Bonelli said the testing will help the company refine critical cold-weather capabilities.
As of Alaska's News Source's report, Bonelli had not answered its follow-up questions, including the testing timeline, why Waymo chose Fairbanks and whether it plans driverless cars there.
Fairbanks Mayor Mindy O'Neall said the testing is a great opportunity for Fairbanks to be a testing ground.
Fairbanks resident Katrina Howe told Alaska's News Source that computers are actually quite stupid.
Fairbanks resident Gwen Jackson said she expects the cars will probably just stall out.
Fairbanks resident Charlie Woolwine said he does not think the cars are safe and that they should not be allowed.
Governor Mike Dunleavy said there is no better proving ground for winter driving than Fairbanks.
According to FOX Weather, Dunleavy said Waymo will test its Ojai and Hyundai IONIQ vehicles in Fairbanks.
FOX Weather reported that Waymo will test its autonomous vehicles in Fairbanks during the winter.
Fairbanks had 6 hours and 29 minutes of daylight on November 13th, with sunrise at 9.20 a.m. and sunset at 3.49 p.m.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of a moratorium on large-scale commercial data centers.
The commission recommended extending the moratorium to 18 months from the 12 months the borough administration requested.
Spillman said five megawatts, the moratorium's power threshold, is enough to power at least 3,000 homes.
The moratorium covers data centers occupying at least 40,000 square feet of gross floor space.
General Use-1 zoning, where a commercial data center could technically be built, applies to 97 percent of the borough.
Military land outside the fence line at installations such as Eielson is subject to borough zoning powers.
The Northern Alaska Environmental Center said the Planning Commission would take up Ordinance 2026-42 on Tuesday, November 10th, at 6 p.m.
The commission's amendment requires the planning department to report back in 10 months with its findings.
The ordinance now goes to the Borough Assembly for a public hearing and approval.
The University of Alaska Board of Regents delayed its statement of intent on AI use at its November meeting.
The regents pushed the final decision to February, or sooner if UA President Matt Cooper requests it.
Jonathon Taylor of the UA system said the board had received a lot of feedback from a variety of stakeholders across the system.
Beats
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