Year: 2019

The rendezvous between the New Horizons probe and the distant object known as Ultima Thule was an historic moment, but after the mind-blowing imagery the craft sent back from Pluto, you could be forgiven for being a little disappointed in how indistinct the early imagery was. Those concerns should be partly alleviated by the latest image from the probe, which shows the rocky world in considerably greater detail.

It’s still not exactly poster quality, but remember, this is being beamed back bit by bit from four billion miles away. And it isn’t just sending the best stuff, but a huge series of images it took during the brief flyby on January 1. Not only that, but there are multiple imagers and instruments whose information must be collated and adjusted for human viewing.

In this case the image was taken by the Multicolor Visible Imaging Camera, or MVIC; the previous ones were taken with LORRI, a long-range reconnaissance camera. It was taken from a distance of about 4,200 miles away, just a minutes before the probe’s closest approach.

Earlier imagery wasn’t as clear, but showed the rust-red color of the object.

The lighting is fortuitous, and helps show off the topography of Ultima Thule, or 2014 MU69, as it was previously known. To give you a sense of scale, the big concavity in what you might call the head of the snowman is about 4 miles across. The team writes in a blog post:

Not clear is whether these pits are impact craters or features resulting from other processes, such as “collapse pits” or the ancient venting of volatile materials.

Both lobes also show many intriguing light and dark patterns of unknown origin, which may reveal clues about how this body was assembled during the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. One of the most striking of these is the bright “collar” separating the two lobes.

Principal Investigator of the New Horizons mission Alan Stern, whom I spoke with about the flyby and other topics some months before New Year’s, says in the same post that we have even more to look forward to:

“This new image is starting to reveal differences in the geologic character of the two lobes of Ultima Thule, and is presenting us with new mysteries as well. Over the next month there will be better color and better resolution images that we hope will help unravel the many mysteries of Ultima Thule.”

It’s a weird quirk of the current generation of AirPods: they support Siri, but only if you double-tap one of the earbuds first. Unlike with iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and HomePods, you can’t just say “Hey Siri” and babble out your request.

Rumors have been floating around for a while suggesting that a new iteration of AirPods — AirPods 2, the rumor mill is calling them — would bring “Hey Siri” functionality. Now a screen hiding in the latest iOS beta seems to suggest the same.

While it’s not a publicly accessible screen, Guilherme Rambo of 9to5mac managed to trigger the following prompt in the just-released iOS 12.2 beta:

(Image Credit: 9to5Mac)

“Talk to Siri with your AirPods or iPhone by saying ‘Hey Siri’,” it reads.

Its absence from the current generation of AirPods presumably boils down to a matter of battery life. Apple figured out how to make “Hey Siri” work with minimal impact on battery life with the iPhone 6s, then broke down how it all works in a post on its Machine Learning Journal in April of 2018. But to pull off the same trick in a tiny earbud — each having a battery capacity of 93 milliwatt hours, or roughly 1 percent of that of an iPhone — is an entirely new challenge. For the first gen, it was just easier to let the headphones wait for that double-tap, queueing it up as a new selling point whenever Apple figured out how to pull it off.

Rumors have also hinted at other features for the eventual AirPods sequel, from waterproofing to sensors that help track health data. Alas, no sneaky hidden prompts hinting at any of that have been found yet.

Losing to the computer in StarCraft has been a tradition of mine since the first game came out in 1998. Of course, the built-in “AI” is trivial for serious players to beat, and for years researchers have attempted to replicate human strategy and skill in the latest version of the game. They’ve just made a huge leap with AlphaStar, which recently beat two leading pros 5-0.

The new system was created by DeepMind, and in many ways it’s very unlike what you might call a “traditional” StarCraft AI. The computer opponents you can select in the game are really pretty dumb — they have basic built-in strategies, and know in general how to attack and defend and how to progress down the tech tree. But they lack everything that makes a human player strong: adaptability, improvisation and imagination.

AlphaStar is different. It learned from watching humans play at first, but soon honed its skills by playing against facets of itself.

The first iterations watched replays of games to learn the basics of “micro” (i.e. controlling units effectively) and “macro” (i.e. game economy and long-term goals) strategy. With this knowledge it was able to beat the in-game computer opponents on their hardest setting 95 percent of the time. But as any pro will tell you, that’s child’s play. So the real work started here.

Hundreds of agents were spawned and pitted against each other.

Because StarCraft is such a complex game, it would be silly to think that there’s a single optimal strategy that works in all situations. So the machine learning agent was essentially split into hundreds of versions of itself, each given a slightly different task or strategy. One might attempt to achieve air superiority at all costs; another to focus on teching up; another to try various “cheese” attempts like worker rushes and the like. Some were even given strong agents as targets, caring about nothing else but beating an already successful strategy.

This family of agents fought and fought for hundreds of years of in-game time (undertaken in parallel, of course). Over time the various agents learned (and of course reported back) various stratagems, from simple things such as how to scatter units under an area-of-effect attack to complex multi-pronged offenses. Putting them all together produced the highly robust AlphaStar agent, with some 200 years of gameplay under its belt.

Most StarCraft II pros are well younger than 200, so that’s a bit of an unfair advantage. There’s also the fact that AlphaStar, in its original incarnation anyway, has two other major benefits.

First, it gets its information directly from the game engine, rather than having to observe the game screen — so it knows instantly that a unit is down to 20 HP without having to click on it. Second, it can (though it doesn’t always) perform far more “actions per minute” than a human, because it isn’t limited by fleshy hands and banks of buttons. APM is just one measure among many that determines the outcome of a match, but it can’t hurt to be able to command a guy 20 times in a second rather than two or three.

It’s worth noting here that AIs for micro control have existed for years, having demonstrated their prowess in the original StarCraft. It’s incredibly useful to be able to perfectly cycle out units in a firefight so none takes lethal damage, or to perfectly time movements so no attacker is idle, but the truth is good strategy beats good tactics pretty much every time. A good player can counter the perfect micro of an AI and take that valuable tool out of play.

AlphaStar was matched up against two pro players, MaNa and TLO of the highly competitive Team Liquid. It beat them both handily, and the pros seemed excited rather than depressed by the machine learning system’s skill. Here’s game 2 against MaNa:

In comments after the game series, MaNa said:

I was impressed to see AlphaStar pull off advanced moves and different strategies across almost every game, using a very human style of gameplay I wouldn’t have expected. I’ve realised how much my gameplay relies on forcing mistakes and being able to exploit human reactions, so this has put the game in a whole new light for me. We’re all excited to see what comes next.

And TLO, who actually is a Zerg main but gamely played Protoss for the experiment:

I was surprised by how strong the agent was. AlphaStar takes well-known strategies and turns them on their head. The agent demonstrated strategies I hadn’t thought of before, which means there may still be new ways of playing the game that we haven’t fully explored yet.

You can get the replays of the matches here.

AlphaStar is inarguably a strong player, but there are some important caveats here. First, when they handicapped the agent by making it play like a human, in that it had to move the camera around, could only click on visible units, had a human-like delay on perception and so on, it was far less strong and in fact was beaten by MaNa. But that version, which perhaps may become the benchmark rather than its untethered cousin, is still under development, so for that and other reasons it was never going to be as strong.

AlphaStar only plays Protoss, and the most successful versions of itself used very micro-heavy units.

Most importantly, though, AlphaStar is still an extreme specialist. It only plays Protoss versus Protoss — probably has no idea what a Zerg looks like — with a single opponent, on a single map. As anyone who has played the game can tell you, the map and the races produce all kinds of variations, which massively complicate gameplay and strategy. In essence, AlphaStar is playing only a tiny fraction of the game — though admittedly many players also specialize like this.

That said, the groundwork of designing a self-training agent is the hard part — the actual training is a matter of time and computing power. If it’s 1v1v1 on Bloodbath maybe it’s stalker/zealot time, while if it’s 2v2 on a big map with lots of elevation, out come the air units. (Is it obvious I’m not up on my SC2 strats?)

The project continues and AlphaStar will grow stronger, naturally, but the team at DeepMind thinks that some of the basics of the system, for instance how it efficiently visualizes the rest of the game as a result of every move it makes, could be applied in many other areas where AIs must repeatedly make decisions that affect a complex and long-term series of outcomes.

A teaser image of headlights plus a few details about the upcoming electric Strike motorcycle from Lightning Motorcycles was apparently too much for some to bear. The company, prompted by an unexpectedly high number of customer requests, has now opened reservations for U.S. customers.

Customers will still have to wait until March to see what the Strike electric motorcycle looks like. No early peeks, even for reservations holders.

Two versions of Strike reservations are available: a carbon edition and standard version. Customers can put down a $500 fully refundable reservation deposit for the standard model, which starts at $12,998.

For those who want the Strike carbon edition, they’ll have to plunk down a $10,000 refundable deposit.

Lightning Motorcycles, which is known for its LS-218 superbike, says its Strike electric motorcycle has 150 miles of range on a single charge and can reach a top speed of 150 miles per hour. The motorcycle’s battery can be charged in 35 minutes with a DC fast charger.

Lightning Motorcycles is one of several companies that have announced plans to sell mass-market electric motorcycles.

Harley-Davidson, which first showed off a concept electric motorcycle four years ago, plans to sell a production-ready electric bike called LiveWire this coming August. LiveWire is supposed to be the first in what will be a portfolio of electric Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The LiveWire is more than double the cost of what Lightening Motorcycles plans to bring to market.

The battery-powered LiveWire will do 0-60 mph in just over 3 seconds and go 110 miles on a charge; the base price is $29,799 MSRP.

San Jose cannabis company Caliva is proving that weed’s still hot, even as some markets cool off.

The company is announcing a $75 million round of investment that includes participation from former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and football legend Joe Montana . If that pair seems unlikely, it just goes to show that cannabis attracts an eclectic mix.

With what the company itself refers to as a “war chest,” Caliva intends to expand its portfolio of products as well as ramping up its efforts courting cannabis users in California through a combination of branded brick and mortar stores, direct to consumer sales and sales to distributors. While state regulations slowed the overall market over the last year, Caliva grew its revenues by 350 percent, growing its company to 440 workers

A general partner at Liquid 2 Ventures, Montana isn’t new to cannabis investing. In 2017, the former quarterback participated in a seed round for Herb, a cannabis-focused media company. Given the extreme toll pro sports take on the human body, it’s not uncommon for former athletes to get involved in the cannabis business, particularly with CBD products.

“As an investor and supporter, it is my opinion that Caliva’s strong management team will successfully develop and bring to market quality health and wellness products that can provide relief to many people and can make a serious impact on opioid use or addiction,” Montana said of his interest in the cannabis industry.

Caliva currently operates a popular retail location situated conveniently for Silicon Valley’s droves of weed acolytes, but the company is more than just a well-liked dispensary. Beyond just carrying popular brands, Caliva sells its own products at its own stores — everything from vape pen oil cartridges to pre-rolls —in addition to operating a distribution center nearby.

“I know great opportunities when I see them,” said Bartz, who will also join the company’s board.

When one food delivery startup fails, another gets funded.

Chowbus, an Asian food ordering platform headquartered in Chicago, has brought in a $4 million “seed” funding led by Greycroft Partners and FJ Labs, with participation from Hyde Park Angels and Fika Ventures. The startup, aware of the challenges that plague startups in this space, says offering exclusive access to restaurants and eliminating service fees sets it apart from big-name competitors like Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash and Postmates.

The Chowbus platform focuses on meals rather than restaurants. While scrolling through the mobile app, a user is connected to various independent restaurants depending on what particular dish they’re seeking. Chowbus says only a small portion of the restaurants on its platform, 15 percent, are also available on Grubhub and Uber Eats. 

The app is currently available in Chicago, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Champaign, Ill. and Lansing, Mich. With the new investment, which brings Chowbus’ total raised to just over $5 million, the startup will launch in up to 20 additional markets. Eventually, Chowbus says it will expand into other cuisines, too, beginning with Mexican and Italian. 

Chowbus was founded in 2016 by chief executive officer Linxin Wen and chief technology officer Suyu Zhang.

“When I first came to the U.S. five years ago, I found most restaurants I really liked [weren’t] on Grubhub nor other major delivery platforms and the delivery fees were quite high,” Wen told TechCrunch. “So I thought, maybe I can build a platform to support these restaurants,”

TechCrunch chatted with Wen and Zhang on Tuesday, the day after Munchery announced it was shutting down its prepared meal delivery business. Naturally, I asked the founders what made them think Chowbus can survive in an already crowded market, dominated by the likes of Uber.

“The central kitchen model doesn’t work; the cost is too high,” Zhang said, referring to Munchery’s business model, which prepared food for its meal service in-house rather than sourcing through local restaurants.

“We don’t own the kitchen or the chef, we just take advantage of the resources and help restaurants make more money,” Wen added. “The food delivery space is really huge and growing so quick.”

Smartphone numbers are down. In 2018, global shipments dropped 3 percent, and while the long-promised arrival of 5G will help numbers get back into the black, IDC predicts that even then growth will be in the low-single digits.

With a few exceptions, handset makers are starting to feel the pain of stagnation, due to a confluence of different forces. There’s slowed economic growth in China and internationally, prolonged upgrade cycles and price hikes as tariffs are levied amid a looming trade war.

For many consumers, however, it comes down to one simple thing: most phones today are already quite good and manufacturers are offering fewer compelling reasons to upgrade every one to two years. Unlike many of the aforementioned external factors, this is something phone makers can actually do something about.

Of course, this could be the year that changes that. After years of minor upgrades, far-off concept designs and being backed into a corner by diminishing returns, handset makers are coming out swinging. Less than a month in, 2019 is already shaping up to be one of the most innovative years for smartphones in recent memory.

Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and Royole all have folding phones in the works, and Motorola may be joining their ranks with a new Razr. Google, meanwhile, has promised to support the new wave of foldables with updates to Android. 5G phones are set to start trickling in this year, as well.

This week we saw a pair of handsets from Meizu and Vivo that take advantage of a handful of trends (wireless charging, Bluetooth headphones, etc.) to offer handsets fully devoid of ports. And then there’s whatever this LG thing is.

Not all are great or guaranteed hits, but with Mobile World Congress just over a month out, it already seems safe to declare that 2019 will be a good year for intriguing devices and concepts. Sales have been flagging, so companies are scrambling to stand out — heck, even HTC is going all-in on crypto with the Exodus One.

All of this should serve to make my job more interesting. But will far out concepts really drive growth? Foldables are already proving to be something of a mixed bag. Take Royole, which contorted its way into the spotlight by being the first company to make the long-promised folding screen a reality. The product ultimately left something to be desired. Early glimpses at devices like the dual-folding Xiaomi, however, have offered hope for the space’s potential.

5G, meanwhile, is going to have trouble living up to its own prolonged hype cycle. Those who pay attention to the industry have been hearing about its unlimited potential for years. The mainstream media has picked up on it in the intervening months, courtesy of CES and promises from handset makers and carriers alike.

But carriers have already done a lot to cloud the definition of 5G — take AT&T’s 5G Evolution. The carrier calls it its “first step on the road to 5G,” when really it’s more of a souped-up LTE. It has led to a whole lot of snipping between carriers, further muddying the waters for an already nebulous technology. There will be a number of 5G devices on the market before year’s end, but actually getting 5G coverage with your carrier in your city is another issue entirely.

Price will also be major a factor. Companies like OnePlus have shown just how good inexpensive handsets can be, all while prices have continued to rise on flagships. Models from Samsung and Apple now regularly start around $1,000, and the average price for a foldable looks like it will be more in the neighborhood of $1,500. At that price, it’s going to be difficult to attract anyone beyond early adopters with money to burn. Real mainstream adoption is going to require lower price points and a genuinely useful feature set that expands the products beyond sheer novelty.

The mobile industry is at a crossroads. It has hit maturation and, in some markets, saturation. 2019 will be a key year in determining the fate of the smartphone going forward, whether this space continues to have life in it, or if the stagnation will continue while we wait for the next big thing in consumer electronics.

Swarm Technologies is one of several companies looking to populate low Earth orbit with communications satellites, setting itself apart with the sheer smallness of its devices — and of course with the notoriety of having defied the FCC and earned a fine. But investors are bullish, and the company has just raised a $25 million round A to put 150 of its tiny SpaceBEEs in orbit.

There are many communications markets to be served from space: Starlink wants to do mobile broadband; Ubiquitilink wants to eliminate “no signal”; and Swarm is taking aim at embedded devices, the so-called internet of things.

IoT devices don’t need high speeds or low latency; the data they produce can usually wait a few minutes, or even days. While they very well could be registered on your ordinary wi-fi network or even connect by a cellular connection, it’s easy to see that they would benefit from a separate form of connectivity more suited to their needs.

This is especially true when you consider how areas like farms and wildernesses are being outfitted with sensors to monitor soil, warn of poachers or lost hikers, and otherwise provide some basic data on the huge swathes of land that are more or less off the grid.

“Swarm has developed something entirely new: a low-bandwidth, latency-tolerant network that is extremely inexpensive, low-power and very easy to integrate for things that need to be connected anywhere in the world,” said Sky Dayton, EarthLink founder and leading participant in the round alongside Craft Ventures, Social Capital. 4DX Ventures, and NJF Capital.

The focus at Swarm now is on speed and cost reduction. Especially in space, there’s a strong argument to get something, anything in place so you can demonstrate the utility of your service, however limited, while others are still at the drawing board.

That’s what the $25 million will be dedicated to — expansion and in particular the deployment of a 150-satellite constellation over the next 18 months.

Of course the success of the company’s ambitions here depend much upon finalization, regulatory approval, manufacturing, and launch schedules. But Swarm’s satellites really are small — so small that the FCC was leery about allowing them to be launched — so dozens may well be launched at a time.

The company has already launched and tested a few of its satellites, but I’ve asked when they’ll have a finalized design and can begin manufacturing and launching them. I’ll update this article if I hear back.

Remember that massive data leak of mortgage and loan data we reported on Wednesday?

In case you missed it, millions of documents were found leaking after an exposed Elasticsearch server was found without a password. The data contained highly sensitive financial data on tens of thousands of individuals who took out loans or mortgages over the past decade with U.S. financial institutions. The documents were converted using a technology called OCR from their original paper documents to a computer readable format and stored in the database, but they weren’t easy to read. That said, it was possible to discern names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers and other private financial data by anyone who knew where to find the server.

Independent security researcher Bob Diachenko and TechCrunch traced the source of the leaking database to a Texas-based data and analytics company, Ascension. When reached, the company said that one of its vendors, OpticsML, a New York-based document management startup, had mishandled the data and was to blame for the data leak.

It turns out that data was exposed again — but this time, it was the original documents.

Diachenko found the second trove of data in a separate exposed Amazon S3 storage server, which too was not protected with a password. Anyone who went to an easy-to-guess web address in their web browser could have accessed the storage server and see — and download — the files stored inside.

In a note to TechCrunch, Diachenko said he was “very surprised” to find the server in the first place, let alone open and accessible. Because Amazon storage servers are private by default and aren’t accessible to the web, someone would have made a conscious decision to set its permissions to public.

The bucket contained 21 files containing 23,000 pages of PDF documents stitched together — or about 1.3 gigabytes in size. Diachenko said that portions of the data in the exposed Elasticsearch database on Wednesday matched data found in the Amazon S3 bucket, confirming that some or all of the data is the same as what was previously discovered. Like in Wednesday’s report, the server contained documents from banks and financial institutions across the U.S., including loans and mortgage agreements. We also found documents from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as W-2 tax forms, loan repayment schedules, and other sensitive financial information.

Two of the files — redacted — found on the exposed storage server. (Image: TechCrunch)

Many of the files also contained names, addresses, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers, and more.

When we tried to reach OpticsML on Wednesday, its website had been pulled offline and the listed phone number was disconnected. After scouring through old cached version of the site, we found an email address.

TechCrunch emailed chief executive Sean Lanning, and the bucket was secured within the hour.

Lanning acknowledged our email but did not comment. Instead, OpticsML chief technology officer John Brozena confirmed the breach in a separate email, but declined to answer several questions about the exposed data — including how long the bucket was open and why it was set to public.

“We are working with the appropriate authorities and a forensic team to analyze the full extent of the situation regarding the exposed Elasticsearch server,” said Brozena. “As part of this investigation we learned that 21 documents used for testing were made identifiable by the previously discussed Elasticsearch leak. These documents were taken offline promptly.”

He added that OpticsML is “working to notify all affected parties” when asked about informing customers and state regulators, as per state data breach notification laws.

But Diachenko said there was no telling how many times the bucket might have been accessed before it was discovered.

“I would assume that after such publicity like these guys had, first thing you would do is to check if your cloud storage is down or, at least, password-protected,” he said.

China’s fast-paced growth has resulted in it being one of the most extremely flexible nations in terms of technological integration into existing infrastructure. With its relatively newer institutions and organizations, China can easily adapt existing infrastructure around current and potentially future technologies. Because of the rise of automated vehicles and their specific criteria, many have wondered how to properly establish specific infrastructure to support such technology. This is where China has an opportunity to thrive: Its more robust mechanisms for change have the capability to implement such technology on a large-scale, enabling smart highway and roads as the baseline for future infrastructure projects worldwide.

What is a smart highway, and why do we need them?

There are many definitions for the term “smart highway,” but the general consensus is that this type of roadway will allow for technological integration into current transportation roadways, including, but not limited to, functions such as generating power through solar panels, integration with self-driving cars and sensors and structural maintenance monitoring systems. Smart highways have the opportunity to turn from serving a singular purpose in being the backbone of various countries’ transportation systems to providing additional value added through the generation of power, safety feature implementation and the gathering of key data points for both drivers and transportation administrators.

In the wake of incidents such as the death of a driver in a Tesla on Autopilot mode, as well as the death of a pedestrian during an Uber self-driving pilot program, smart highways would allow for improved safety mechanisms. Automated vehicles, smart highway sensors and software programs would have increased capability to identify and stop incidents as they occur, allowing real-time feedback to enable safety features to prevent, or at least mitigate, any injury or harm to drivers. Instead of simple commands issued to the driver, which are still prone to human error, a smart highway would enable smart vehicles to work with sensors and other roadside-integrated technologies to create tools such as full-stop fail-safes in the event of an incapacitated driver.

Additionally, world power consumption is on the rise, with energy demand being projected to increase by more than 25 percent by 2040. On the same note, fossil fuel consumption will also decrease, increasing the need for sources of renewable energy. Smart highways will be able to ensure full utilization of the millions of miles of roadways across the globe, dual-utilizing these vast spaces to produce energy to power not only highway-specific infrastructure, but also potentially nearby areas, such as towns, cities and even power plants. Smart highways represent an opportunity for sustainable energy growth, allowing power generation for key infrastructure, as well as potentially even charging electric vehicles as they drive.

Data aggregates collected from smart highways would also be very useful in urban planning, allowing for increased travel efficiency as well as decreased environmental pollution from vehicles. One potential example of smart highways utilized to produce results would be engineers utilizing real-time data to analyze traffic flow in a specific area in relation to lane mergers and freeway exits, optimizing roadways to ensure the least amount of time a car is stopped at any specific traffic choke point.

With the advent of automated vehicles and other smart technologies, smart highways are simply necessitated to ensure the full integration and use of such innovation. These potentially life-saving tools can be utilized to increase driver and pedestrian safety, increase clean energy consumption and promote sustainability — and even help engineers with urban, road and traffic planning.

Are there any projects that are close to being implemented for smart highways?

There have been many attempts to create parts of smart highways, with specific efforts focusing on solar roads and smart traffic infrastructure projects. However, many of these efforts have been met with mixed results, running into a variety of issues that include, but are not limited to, true power efficiency and monetary cost.

In October 2014, the Netherlands established the SolaRoad pilot project, creating a 70-meter stretch of bike path. This project was met with resounding success, producing nearly 10,000 kWh in its first year. More projects are being developed off this specific one, moving to more heavy traffic areas for testing in 2019. However, this project is specifically focused on developing solar roads, and not fully integrated solar highways, in order to increase renewable energy consumption in the area.

In September 2016, Idaho-based Solar Roadways built a nearly 14-square meter roadway in Sandypoint, Idaho. However, Solar Roadways’ own report to the U.S. Department of Transportation noted how its panels “used about one-third of the electricity they generate to power their built-in LEDs,” drastically affecting efficiency of energy created, generating a mere 52.39 kWhs in six months. This has affected other solar roadway development in the United States, halting a planned 2017 Missouri solar road project near Conway, due to what Solar Roadways calls “a variety of complex red tape factors.” This project has been a cause of concern for many because of its high costs and relatively low efficiency factors in terms of energy production.

December 2016 saw what began as a Wattway, Hannah Solar and Georgia Department of Transportation-sponsored 50-square meter roadway evolving into The Ray. At nearly 30 kilometers on I-85 in Troup County, Georgia, The Ray has become one of the most comprehensive smart highways today, encompassing a solar-powered vehicle charging station, tire-safety check station and the aforementioned solar road.

Also, in December 2016, France opened a roughly 1 km solar road in partnership with French company Colas. Unfortunately, this road has not lived up to expectations, generating only 409 kWh of energy per day as opposed to an original estimate of 17,963 kWh per day, costing the French government millions of Euros to install and maintain, with 5 percent of the solar panels already requiring replacement.

As one can see, portions of smart highways have been met with limited success throughout the world. Cost, bureaucratic interference, true energy output and sustainability are just some of the many concerns that can potentially drive or tank such projects.

Why China: infrastructure expertise, quick implementation and robust manufacturing capabilities

China’s unique nature as a rising nation seeking status as a developed one gives it immense opportunity to implement smart technologies. With a mobile-first mindset helping to carry internet to hundreds of millions of people without desktop computers, China has shown the capability to implement technology quickly and relatively efficiently. Therefore, China is the most likely place for the world’s first true smart roadways because of its unique infrastructure environment, relatively flexible bureaucracy in terms of technological implementation, as well as the robust nature of manufacturing and supply chain refinement in China.

Opening in December 2017, the largest stretch of solar road currently lies in eastern China’s Shandong province, created by Pavenergy and Qilu Transportation, with an area of 5,875 square meters. In this specific instance, China’s more rigid concrete-based roads allow for a better placement of thin solar cells, as opposed to the asphalt-based American highway system. This unique infrastructure environment allows for the easier implementation of solar technologies on such concrete-based roads.

Additionally, the Chinese are well-versed and experienced in traditional road construction, building China’s expansive expressways, as well as a lot of road infrastructure in Latin America and Africa. This is only added on to by China’s reputation as a very expeditious infrastructure builder, with Chinese companies setting records, such as building a 57-story skyscraper in 19 days and a railway station in just 9 hours.  These unique infrastructure traits make China the perfect ground to build the world’s first true super highway.

China’s relatively flexible bureaucracy, specific to technological implementation and innovation, also helps in supporting the argument of the world’s first superhighway being in China. With China clearly dominating the mobile-first environment — with 1.1 billion mobile internet subscriptions in 2017 (nearly twice the amount of the U.S. at the time) — Chinese consumers actually purchase more through mobile phones than computers, with the Chinese government playing an active role to establish infrastructure to support mobile-first technologies.

In the case of drones, China’s Civil Aviation Authority released a clear set of federal guidelines and regulations governing their use in 2016. In contrast, many Western nations have very mixed rules when it comes to drone use, with federal, state, county and municipal agencies often implementing confusing and sometimes even contrasting rules. These two examples showcase how China is very quick to implement technology throughout its country, and how its government is very forward-leaning and early adopting in this specific respect.

China’s manufacturing might is also a key indicator of success in terms of implementation of a smart highway. China’s very strong manufacturing power has catapulted it into success, from constructing simple consumer goods, to being the premier assembler of iPhones, and now to the development of very inexpensive and efficient solar panels. China has refined its supply chain process immensely well, to the point where Chinese factories are optimized from start to finish, from having the initial components of specific products mere kilometers from one another, to having the ability to ship millions of packages every day. This overwhelming efficiency has led to a key component of smart roadways being China’s premier business, with China becoming the manufacturer for roughly 70 percent of all solar panels today.

Additionally, China leads the world in solar power production, installing 34.5 gigawatts of new solar energy capacity in the first nine months of 2018 alone, while consisting of 53 percent of all solar installations in 2017 and more than 50 percent of all global installations in 2016. This heavy industrial development of solar panels within China is a huge benefit for Chinese solar roadways, allowing localized firms to quickly manufacture and implement solar roadways, and, to a further extent, smart highways. With an unrivaled manufacturing capacity and a very well-developed supply chain, China represents the most likely place for the world’s first true smart highway.

All in all, China is not only the most likely place, but the premier environment, for the world’s first smart roadway because of its unique infrastructure environment, fast-paced technology implementation standards and dominance in global manufacturing and supply chain.

Conclusion

The rise of automated vehicles throughout the world has also given rise to the idea of smart highways, encompassing all sorts of technologies such as sensors, solar panels and software to create a safer and more efficient driving environment. While nations such as Dubai have announced plans to develop and integrate existing smart technologies into their traffic systems, China is one of the first, if not the first, to announce plans to build a projected 161 kilometer-long smart road in its eastern Zhejiang province, integrating safety features to support autonomous driving tracked with sensors, an Internet-of-Vehicles system and solar panels.

Chinese scientists also continue to innovate in the solar sector, a key component of smart highways, achieving a record 17.3 percent power conversion efficiency rate on organic solar cells. Therefore, we can only conclude that the world’s first true smart highway will be in China, leading the way to fully integrate smart technology with current traffic infrastructure.