Self-driving truck startup Waabi’s billion-dollar fundraise isn’t just about trucks. The deal, for $750 million up front plus another $250 million from Uber tied to deployment milestones, marks a major expansion into robotaxis for the company founded by former Uber AI chief Raquel Urtasun. It also feels like another chip from Uber on the autonomous vehicle roulette table. With more… Continue reading Uber puts another chip on the self-driving roulette table
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides to and from San Francisco International Airport
After years of negotiations and false starts, Waymo is now allowed to operate a robotaxi service to and from the San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The Alphabet-owned company said in a blog post Thursday it will begin offering access to SFO to a select number of riders before offering it to all customers in the… Continue reading Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides to and from San Francisco International Airport
Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica
A Waymo robotaxi struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica on January 23, according to the company. Waymo told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the child — whose age and identity are not currently public — sustained minor injuries. The NHTSA has opened an investigation into the accident, and… Continue reading Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica
Luminar sale approved despite last-minute mystery bid
Moments before a bankruptcy judge was expected to approve the sale of Luminar’s lidar business, an unidentified party submitted an offer that apparently blew away the leading bid of $33 million. This bid, which emerged just before a hearing Tuesday, kicked off a series of rapid-fire meetings between Luminar’s remaining leadership team and its lawyers,… Continue reading Luminar sale approved despite last-minute mystery bid
Waabi raises $1B and expands into robotaxis with Uber
Autonomous vehicle startup Waabi has raised $1 billion and struck a partnership with Uber to deploy self-driving cars on the ride-hailing platform — the company’s first expansion beyond autonomous trucking. The funding consists of an oversubscribed $750 million Series C round co-led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners and roughly $250 million in milestone-based… Continue reading Waabi raises $1B and expands into robotaxis with Uber
Fashion rental app By Rotation and Uber partner to help deliver ski clothing
By Rotation, one of the U.K.’s most popular peer-to-peer fashion rental platforms, announced on Wednesday a partnership with the ride-sharing app Uber. From now until May 31, By Rotation users in the U.K. can rent outfits from others in their neighborhood and have them delivered via Uber within 60 minutes at a 10% discount. Though… Continue reading Fashion rental app By Rotation and Uber partner to help deliver ski clothing
The price gap between Waymo and Uber is narrowing
A trip in a Waymo robotaxi still costs more, on average, than a comparable ride in a human-driven Uber or a Lyft. But that gap is narrowing, according to new data published Tuesday by Obi, a company that aggregates real-time pricing and pickup times across multiple ride-hailing services. Two factors, working together, are behind the… Continue reading The price gap between Waymo and Uber is narrowing
Luminar receives a larger $33 million bid for its lidar business
Luminar received an even higher bid for its lidar business as a court-run auction concluded on Monday, according to a new filing in the company’s bankruptcy case. MicroVision, a Redmond, Washington-based company that has been developing its own lidar sensors, submitted a $33 million bid, eclipsing the $22 million that Quantum Computing Inc. laid out… Continue reading Luminar receives a larger $33 million bid for its lidar business
Uber launches an ‘AV Labs’ division to gather driving data for robotaxi partners
Uber has more than 20 autonomous vehicle partners, and they all want one thing: data. So the company says it’s going to make that available through a new division called Uber AV Labs. Despite the name, Uber is not returning to developing its own robotaxis, which it stopped doing after one of its test vehicles… Continue reading Uber launches an ‘AV Labs’ division to gather driving data for robotaxi partners
TechCrunch Mobility: RIP, Tesla Autopilot, and the NTSB investigates Waymo
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! A quick bit of breaking news that hit just as we were about to send this newsletter out. The National Transportation… Continue reading TechCrunch Mobility: RIP, Tesla Autopilot, and the NTSB investigates Waymo