Today’s Pickup: A once $1 trillion dollar oil company is now valued 80 percent lower

American imports of manufactured goods from China and 13 other Asian countries rose 9 percent in 2018 to $816 billion, the largest annual increase in nearly a decade and outpacing a 6 percent increase in domestic manufacturing gross output.

Quotable

“Threats to international freedom of navigation require an international solution. The world economy depends on the free flow of commerce, and it is incumbent on all nations to protect and preserve this linchpin of global prosperity.”

– Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, on Iranian vessels blocking a U.K. oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. 

In other news

Amazon Logistics needs $122 billion to beat FedEx or UPS: Goldman Sachs

It would cost Amazon big money for it to catch up to UPS and FedEx and their air hubs, aircraft, delivery vehicles and other components of their logistics networks. (Business Insider)

Millions are under a flood risk as a storm strengthens in the Gulf of Mexico

More than 4 million people are under flash flood watches from south-central Louisiana to the western Florida panhandle as the system moves over the warm waters. (CNN)

The future of autonomous vehicles runs off roads and on to farms and construction sites

Fully autonomous passenger cars might be far into the future, but near-term autonomy can have widespread applications in agriculture, construction and mining. (TechCrunch)

Workers victorious as California preps to classify Uber and Lyft drivers as employees

Rideshare drivers in California turned out in droves in support of a state bill that would classify them as full employees. (Gizmodo)

Cadence launches blockchain-based tokenized debt marketplace

The end of a contract with Amazon made headlines, but it’s not one of the key things that FedEx investors need to focus on. (Coin Telegraph)

Final Thoughts

Google autonomous driving spin-off Waymo announced that it had driven 10 billion miles in simulation, at the TechCrunch mobility session on Wednesday. This is significant as much of the simulation data translates to a far more accurate self-driving technology solution. Apart from the simulated miles, Waymo also leads the vertical in terms of physical miles driven autonomously, having a decade of experience testing its cars on public roads. 

The data collected from simulated miles and physical miles are fed into the self-driving algorithm that continuously gets better with improved data. Holding on to the world’s largest data set of simulated and physical miles, it is not a surprise that Waymo’s self-driving algorithm is more sophisticated than its closest competitors, and thus more reliable to be put onto vehicles for self-driving on public roads. 

Hammer down everyone!