Lyft shares pop, then plop, as it predicts slow and steady growth

Lyft made less money per active rider in the second quarter — something that might normally give investors pause. Yet, the ride-hailing giant’s stock price initially rocketed nearly 14% in after-hours trading following its Q2 2023 earnings report. The stock then shed its after-hours gains shortly before this story went live. Lyft’s enthusiastic investors seemed… Continue reading Lyft shares pop, then plop, as it predicts slow and steady growth

Array Labs is scanning Earth from space to equip autonomous vehicles with 3D maps

It’s an oft-told story: The boom of space startups today can be traced to dramatically lowered cost in launch and satellite manufacturing over the past 10 years. But Array Labs, a two-year-old startup based in Silicon Valley, is also taking advantage of other technological developments in its quest to build a 3D map of Earth.… Continue reading Array Labs is scanning Earth from space to equip autonomous vehicles with 3D maps

Waymo is bringing its robotaxi service to Austin

Waymo plans to launch a robotaxi service in Austin  — putting the company once again in direct competition with rival Cruise. Austin will be the company’s fourth commercial market following Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The company will kick off the initial phase of its operations in the city this fall; the ride-hailing service… Continue reading Waymo is bringing its robotaxi service to Austin

Xpeng’s head of autonomous driving quits, rumored to join Nvidia

Xpeng, a prominent Chinese electric vehicle maker and a competitor to Tesla, has announced the resignation of its vice president of autonomous driving, Xinzhou Wu, over personal and family reasons. Wu, formerly a senior director of engineering at Qualcomm where he spent over a decade, was effectively the head of Xpeng’s autonomous driving business and… Continue reading Xpeng’s head of autonomous driving quits, rumored to join Nvidia

Uber reports first quarterly operating profit in Q2 2023 results

Uber has reported an operating profit during a fiscal quarter for the first time in its history. The company reported its second-quarter earnings for 2023 [PDF] on Tuesday morning, which included a net income of $394 million for the quarter, up $1.0 billion year-over-year and $588 million versus the preceding quarter. The company attributed its… Continue reading Uber reports first quarterly operating profit in Q2 2023 results

It’s always earnings season if you look hard enough

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Friday show, and we’re talking about the week’s biggest startup and tech news, with a little bit of fun sprinkled in. We had… Continue reading It’s always earnings season if you look hard enough

Waymo puts the brakes on self-driving trucks program

Waymo is tapping the brakes on self-driving trucks and shifting most of its capital, resources and talent to one commercial bet: ride-hailing. The move, which was announced Wednesday in a company blog post, comes six years after Waymo first tested its autonomous vehicle system in Class 8 trucks. The company emphasized the decision was driven… Continue reading Waymo puts the brakes on self-driving trucks program

Cruise starts initial robotaxi testing in Miami

Cruise, the self-driving arm of General Motors, has begun initial testing and data collection in Miami, the company said in a tweet Wednesday. “Phase 1 is to familiarize our fleet with additional, diverse road conditions while collecting data,” the company said. Cruise declined to provide any further information, like what Phase 2 entails and when… Continue reading Cruise starts initial robotaxi testing in Miami

Former NHTSA head blasts Cruise’s ‘Humans are terrible drivers’ ad

A former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has responded to a full-page ad taken out in several major newspapers by Cruise, General Motors’ self-driving subsidiary, that calls humans terrible drivers. The ad points to the nearly 43,000 crash fatalities in 2022 and promotes autonomous vehicles as the solution. “Using the pain… Continue reading Former NHTSA head blasts Cruise’s ‘Humans are terrible drivers’ ad

NYC gig workers need help accessing safe e-bikes amid lithium battery fires

The sight of bike delivery workers hustling through the streets of New York – oven mitts duct taped to their handlebars, insulated pizza delivery bags strapped above the back tire – has been a staple long before the introduction of e-bikes and food delivery apps. Delivery workers are so integral to the landscape that it’s… Continue reading NYC gig workers need help accessing safe e-bikes amid lithium battery fires