A Russian multi-billion dollar company, Yandex, laid off about two dozen US-based workers. The company reportedly had a small autonomous vehicle fleet in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It said that the state suspended their vehicle licenses, but Michigan denied this.
Yandex Stops Its AV Testing in Ann Arbor
The Verge reported that as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, Yandex is now stopping its AV testing in Ann Arbor. This includes the halt of its tests and even its six-wheeled delivery robots at numerous campuses in Arizona and Ohio.
Yandex stated that they got word of the suspension for their vehicle licenses by the official Michigan Department of Transportation on Mar. 9. The company also confirmed that six of their Ann Arbor-based safety drivers were also let go.
21 Yandex Workers Were Laid Off in Ohio and Arizona
On top of the six employees laid off in Ann Arbor, the company also let go of 21 workers in Ohio and Arizona who were working as on-the-ground support staff for Yandex's delivery robots. Although initially supposed to be temporary, Yandex currently hopes that they will be able to resume later on.
On the other hand, Michigan denies that the licenses of Yandex were suspended. As per a spokesperson for the Michigan Secretary of State, Tracy Wimmer, Yandex currently has 14 valid manufacturer plates left that remain registered within the state.
Yandex Contract Terminated Due to the Pandemic in 2021
Wimmer noted that their office did not receive any requests to have the licenses canceled. As reported by Fox2Detroit, when it comes to MDOT, they remained to have a contract with Yandex regarding operations of the company's autonomous ride-hail service last year during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
The contract, however, was reportedly terminated due to the pandemic on July 1, 2021. Jeff Cranson, the director of Communications for MDOT, said they did not have any "further business with Yandex."
Yandex Said MDOT Asked Them to Pause On-Road Operations
This statement, however, doesn't match that of Yandex, which told both its employees and The Verge. As per Yandex, they received pressure from the state to close its operations in Ann Arbor.
As per a Yandex spokesperson in an email, Yulia Shveyko, during the start of March 2022, Yandex's legal counsel spoke with MDOT and were reportedly asked to pause the company's on-road operations.
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MDOT Reportedly Suspended Yandex Testing Licenses
The spokesperson said that the MDOT informed them that their licenses for testing were suspended on Mar. 9. The company said that due to on-road testing no longer being possible without the licenses, they had to let go of six safety drivers in Ann Arbor.
Shevyko was then asked for a response regarding the information. His only reply was, "all the details were shared."
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Written by Urian B.
