Silicon Valley lawyer David Estrada is taking on a new role at Nuro Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based self-driving car startup founded by two of his former Google colleagues and backed by nearly $1 billion from SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund.

Acknowledging a steady drumbeat of criticism from activists and a vocal group of his own employees, Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced the formation of a new organization, the Climate Pledge, to meet the goals of the landmark Paris climate agreement 10 years early.

Last week, Amazon.com held its first conference devoted to the technological frontiers of artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and space exploration. The message: The future is good, and so is Amazon’s role in it.

The companies and officials influencing the development of self-driving technology offered a wide variety of reactions to the death of a pedestrian struck by an Uber autonomous vehicle March 18.