Tesla received a permit Tuesday from the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a transportation service in the state, the beginning of a long regulatory road that could eventually lead to the company getting the OK to operate a robotaxi service there. The permit, which Tesla applied for in November 2024, doesn’t cover autonomous vehicle…
Category: robotaxi
austin, avride, Global IT News, Global Security News, hyundai, Motional, robotaxi, Transportation
Hyundai pairs up with Yandex spinoff Avride to develop robotaxis
Hyundai Motor Company and Avride have agreed to jointly develop autonomous vehicles in a tie up that will deepen the relationship between the two companies. The deal will focus on autonomous vehicle technology designed for robotaxis. The two companies will also look into other use cases for the technology, including autonomous delivery services using Avride’s…
Asia Pacific, didi, didi autonomous driving, Fundraising, Global Security News, ridehail, robotaxi, Transportation
Didi reportedly seeking funds for self-driving unit at $5B valuation
Chinese ride-hail firm Didi is on the hunt for fresh funds for its autonomous vehicle technology unit that could value it at $5 billion, according to Bloomberg News. Investor interest in self-driving cars is high in China on the backs of IPOs from WeRide and Pony AI, which have a market capitalization of $4.7 billion…
Global IT News, Global Security News, Lyft, robotaxi, Tesla, Transportation, Uber
Tesla applies for ride-hail permit in California — but there’s a catch
Tesla applied for a permit with the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a transportation service in the state — a required first step if the automaker wants to eventually operate a robotaxi service there. Tesla’s application for a transportation charter-party carrier permit was first reported by Bloomberg. TechCrunch has independently confirmed with the CPUC…
austin, autonomous vehicles, Global IT News, Global Security News, robotaxi, Transportation, Uber, Waymo
Waymo has doubled its weekly robotaxi rides in less than a year
Waymo is logging more than 200,000 paid robotaxi rides every week, according to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, who shared the stat about the tech giant’s subsidiary on X. Waymo commercially operates robotaxis in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix. The 200,000-weekly trips milestone is notable for a company that was providing only 10,000 rides a…
autonomous vehicles, Exclusive, Global IT News, Global Security News, Lyft, Marubeni, Mobileye, robotaxi, Transportation
Lyft to launch Mobileye-powered robotaxis ‘as soon as 2026,’ starting with Dallas
Ride-hail giant Lyft plans to bring fully autonomous robotaxis, powered by Mobileye, to its app “as soon as 2026” in Dallas, with more markets to follow, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The news comes a day before Lyft shares its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings report, and it coincides with Waymo’s preparations to launch a commercial…
austin, autonomous vehicles, Global IT News, Global Security News, robotaxi, Transportation, Uber, Waymo
Waymo just popped up on the Uber app in Austin ahead of robotaxi launch
Uber customers in Austin may notice a new offer when they open the app and hail a ride: an invitation to signal their interest in a Waymo robotaxi. For now, this doesn’t translate into a Waymo picking them up. But it will soon. The “interest list,” which launched Wednesday, is part of a partnership between…
autonomous vehicles, Global IT News, Global Security News, robotaxi, Transportation, Waymo
Waymo employees can hail fully autonomous rides in Atlanta now
Waymo said it is launching fully driverless robotaxi rides for employees in Atlanta, an important step before the company opens the service up to members of the public later in 2025. This is the latest signal of Waymo’s push into new markets, and it comes two months after the company closed a $5.6 billion Series…
Apps, Global IT News, Global Security News, In Brief, robotaxi, Transportation, Waymo
Waymo is reportedly building a charity ‘tipping’ feature into its robotaxi app
Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company Waymo might be planning to test a feature that will allow robotaxi riders to add a “tip” that will go to the charity of their choice after a ride. Jane Manchun Wong, a security researcher who recently hacked the display dome on top of a Waymo vehicle, found the new tip…
autonomous vehicles, Global IT News, Global Security News, robotaxi, robotaxis, Transportation, Waymo
Waymo begins testing robotaxis on LA freeways
Waymo robotaxis have become a common sight on Los Angeles surface streets. Now, those driverless vehicles are heading to the city’s network of freeways. The Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle technology company said Tuesday it will begin testing its fleet of robotaxis on the Los Angeles freeway system, including Interstates 10, 110, 405, and the 90. These…
autonomous vehicles, Cruise, General Motors, Global IT News, Global Security News, GM, robotaxi, Transportation
GM expects to save up to $1 billion on Cruise costs
General Motors expects to save up to $1 billion annually by ending its Cruise robotaxi development program, CEO and Chair Mary Barra said Tuesday during the company’s earnings call. The estimate comes nearly two months after the automaker said it would no longer fund Cruise, its self-driving subsidiary that aimed to commercialize robotaxis. “GM has…
Amazon, CES, Global IT News, Global Security News, robotaxi, Transportation, zoox
Riding in a Zoox robotaxi at CES 2025: Everything that went right and wrong
A construction zone. A car crash. A double parked truck. A motorcycle cop with its red-white-and blues deployed. My one-hour trip along the Las Vegas Strip in a custom-built Zoox robotaxi during CES 2025 wasn’t a dull one. A second, shorter ride the following evening, proved less eventful. And in both rides, the Zoox robotaxi…
autonomous vehicles, Global IT News, Global Security News, robotaxi, Transportation, Waymo
We talked to the guy who was stuck in a Waymo robotaxi on an dizzying loop
A month ago, a video circulated around social media of a Waymo robotaxi stuck in a roundabout loop – an isolated incident with no passengers in the vehicle, according to Waymo. Apparently, it wasn’t a one-time thing. Around the same time, in another Waymo robotaxi headed for the Phoenix airport, Mike Johns, founder and CEO…
AI, autonomous vehicles, CES, Global IT News, Global Security News, nvidia, robotaxi, Transportation, Uber
At CES 2025, Uber teams up with Nvidia to scale autonomous driving faster
Uber will use Nvidia’s new generative world model simulation tool, Cosmos, and cloud-based AI supercomputing platform, DGX Cloud, to support the development of autonomous vehicle technology, the companies announced at CES 2025. Cosmos is being marketed to robotics and autonomy companies as a tool that generates physics-based videos from a variety of inputs, including 9,000…
cybercab, Elon Musk, Global IT News, Global Security News, Optimus, robotaxi, Tesla, Transportation
Elon Musk’s promises for Tesla in 2024, from robotaxis to Optimus bots
Elon Musk had an eventful 2024, what with his hard push into right-wing politics and leveraging his X social media platform and considerable influence to help Donald Trump win the presidential election. Putting politics aside for a moment, it’s worth focusing on another Musk pastime: making promises for Tesla. The Tesla CEO’s promises — and…
Global IT News, Global Security News, robotaxi, Serve Robotics, sidewalk delivery robots, Transportation, Waymo
A Waymo robotaxi and a Serve delivery robot collided in Los Angeles
On December 27, a Waymo robotaxi and a Serve Robotics sidewalk delivery robot collided at a Los Angeles intersection, according to a video that’s circulating on social media. The footage shows a Serve bot crossing a street in West Hollywood at night and trying to get onto the sidewalk. It reached the curb, backed up…
autonomous vehicles, Cruise, EVs, Global IT News, Global Security News, robotaxi, robotaxis, Startups, Tesla, Transportation, Waymo
The trends that shaped EVs, robotaxis, and electric flight in 2024
If there was one phrase that captured the vibe and theme of 2024 — at least in the transportation sector — it was business whiplash. Legacy automakers changed direction on their all-EVs-or-bust strategy, startups pivoted, and some Silicon Valley VCs and executives adjusted their views to a changing political landscape, in which they now are…
avs, Global IT News, Global Security News, nhtsa, robotaxi, Transportation
Feds clear the way for robotaxis without steering wheel and pedals
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday proposed a new national framework that could make it easier for companies to deploy at scale autonomous vehicles without traditional manual driving controls – like steering wheels, pedals, and sideview mirrors. The guidelines also require AV companies to share a whole lot more safety data with the…
Alphabet, autonomous vehicles, Global IT News, Global Security News, Japan, robotaxi, tokyo, Transportation, Waymo
Waymo robotaxis are coming to Tokyo in 2025
Waymo will begin testing its autonomous vehicle technology in Tokyo in early 2025, the first time the Alphabet company’s robotaxis have driven on public roads outside the U.S. The move to Japan is part of Waymo’s so-called “road trips,” a development program that involves bringing and testing its technology in a variety of cities —…
Global IT News, Global Security News, robotaxi, Transportation, Waymo
A Waymo robotaxi got stuck in a roundabout loop
Roundabouts. They trapped Clark Griswold in National Lampoon’s European Vacation and now they’ve tripped up a Waymo robotaxi. A video is circulating on social media showing a Waymo robotaxi going round and round on a roundabout — as if it is stuck in a loop. A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch there were no passengers onboard…