VOA慢速英语2019 关于无人驾驶汽车的不同想法

Different Ideas About Self-Driving Cars

Many businesses are considering different plans to make automotive artificial intelligence profitable.

许多企业正在考虑各种计划，利用汽车人工智能盈利。 

The founders¹ of Argo AI – along with automaker partners Ford² Motor Company and Volkswagen AG - believe their plan will work.It is different from those of some of their more highly valued rivals.

Argo AI的创始人及其合作伙伴汽车制造商福特和大众相信他们的计划将会奏效。他们的计划不同于某些强劲竞争对手的那些计划。

Argo AI wants to get customers that will use robot vehicles for many purposes, including transporting goods and people.

Argo AI希望可以吸引客户，用机器人车辆实现包括货物和人员运输等许多目的。 

Bryan Salesky, the leader of Argo AI, started developing automated³ vehicles 12 years ago, in a competition.

Argo AI的领导者布莱恩·萨利斯基在12年前的一项竞赛中开始研发自动驾驶汽车。 

The self-driving systems developer is now at the center of a multibillion-dollar investment.Argo AI and its partners think that self-driving vehicle technology must be good for more than just replacing taxi drivers.

无人驾驶系统开发者现在正在价值数十亿美元的投资中心。Argo AI及其合作伙伴认为，自动驾驶汽车技术必须不仅有利于取代出租车司机，还要有更多好处。

“I hate the word robotaxi,” Salesky said in a rare interview at Argo’s Pittsburgh headquarters. "There are so many applications and businesses to be built."

萨利斯基在Argo匹兹堡总部的一次罕见采访中说：“我讨厌‘robotaxi’（机器人出租车）这个词。还有很多应用程序和业务要建立完善。”

A profit-sharing deal is at the heart of The Argo business plan.Ford and VW will pay Argo fees based on the distance traveled by vehicles equipped with Argo’s technology.Details of that deal have not been reported until now, notes the Reuters news agency.

利润共享协议是Argo商业计划的核心。依据装载Argo技术的车辆的行驶距离，福特和大众向Argo支付费用。路透社指出，有关此协议的具体细节，至今还未有相关报道。

Among the possible uses of Argo’s technology: Long-distance trucking for e-commerce.

Argo技术的可能用途包括：用于电子商务的长途货运。 

Argo’s plan is to provide self-driving systems that Ford will launch in late 2021 in three U.S. cities.

Argo的计划是提供自动驾驶系统，福特将于2021年下半年在美国三个城市推出此系统。 

VW leaders told Reuters they expect to follow in 2022 or 2023 with a VW-designed all-electric vehicle.

大众负责人告诉路透社，他们预计将在2022或2023年推出大众设计的全电动汽车。 

Some rivals are not persuaded that Argo has any lead.

一些竞争对手并不认可Argo处于领先地位。 

Glen De Vos is chief technology officer of Aptiv, which recently bought self-driving startups nuTonomy and Ottomatika.

格伦·德·沃斯是Aptiv的首席技术官，Aptiv公司最近收购了自动驾驶的初创公司nuTonomy和Ottomatika。

He noted⁴ Aptiv’s partnership⁵ with the ride-sharing company Lyft.He said the companies are testing self-driving vehicles,and added that Argo "doesn’t have the component⁶ engineering capability⁷ that Aptiv has."

他提到了Aptiv与拼车公司Lyft的合作关系。他说，两家公司正在对自动驾驶汽车进行测试，并补充道，Argo “不具备像Aptiv所具有的组件工程能力。”

Investors⁸ so far see less value in Argo than companies whose work centers on robotaxis.For example, the company Waymo is valued at $105 billion. Another, Cruise, is valued at $19 billion.

到目前为止，在投资者眼中，与以“robotaxi”（机器人出租车）为中心的公司相比，Argo的价值要更低。例如，Waymo公司的估值为1050亿美元。另一个，Cruise公司，价值190亿美元。

Argo’s value is estimated at $7.25 billion following Volkswagen’s $1.9 billion investment.

在大众汽车公司投资19亿美元之后，Argo公司的价值估计为72.5亿美元。 

1 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

2 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

7 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会