GM teams up with Nvidia to bring AI to robots, factories, and self-driving cars

General Motors is turning to Nvidia to help bring AI to the physical world in an expanded collaboration designed to touch every aspect of the automaker’s business, including factories, robots, and self-driving cars.  Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang, who announced the partnership Tuesday during his keynote at the company’s GTC conference in San Jose,… Continue reading GM teams up with Nvidia to bring AI to robots, factories, and self-driving cars

Coreshell has a plan to slash the price of American-made batteries

The electric vehicle transition is really a story about China. There, subsidies have helped juice not just automakers, but the entire battery supply chain behind them. Those incentives, plus decades of industrial policy focused on controlled critical mineral supply chains, has left American and European automakers flat footed. Take graphite, for example. Every lithium-ion battery… Continue reading Coreshell has a plan to slash the price of American-made batteries

Google, Speedinvest back Kenya’s Leta, which uses AI to make logistics cheaper

African businesses pay up to four times the global average to transport goods, driving up prices for essentials like food and medicine. Logistics make up 75% of product costs on the continent, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB). Many of these businesses also rely on manual logistics, leading to delays. Nairobi-based logistics software-as-a-service provider… Continue reading Google, Speedinvest back Kenya’s Leta, which uses AI to make logistics cheaper

Waymo’s milestone SFO mapping permit comes with strings attached

Waymo has been given permission to map roadways at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) via a temporary permit — the first step in the Alphabet company’s bid to unlock a potentially lucrative use case for its robotaxis. The temporary permit, which was announced Monday evening by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, kicked off March… Continue reading Waymo’s milestone SFO mapping permit comes with strings attached

Joby Aviation and Virgin Atlantic partner to launch electric air taxis in the UK

Joby Aviation is partnering with Virgin Atlantic to launch electric air taxis in the U.K., marking the seventh country in which the startup hopes to one day commercialize. Joby, which went public in 2021 via special purpose acquisition merger, did not provide a timeline for when it plans to launch its partnership with Virgin in… Continue reading Joby Aviation and Virgin Atlantic partner to launch electric air taxis in the UK

Week in Review: SXSW week comes to a close

Welcome back to Week in Review! I’m Karyne Levy, TechCrunch’s deputy managing editor, and I’ll be writing this newsletter from here on out. Thrilled to be here! This week we’re checking out everything at SXSW; Waymo’s expansion into Silicon Valley; Intel’s new CEO; TikTok’s new suitor; and why DeepSeek isn’t taking VC money. Let’s get… Continue reading Week in Review: SXSW week comes to a close

TechCrunch Mobility: Testing the Uber-Waymo robotaxi, Rivian goes hands-free, and Travis Kalanick has AV FOMO 

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! For regular readers of TechCrunch Mobility, you may be wondering, “Why did this newsletter land in my inbox on Friday?” Folks, we’re moving days in an effort… Continue reading TechCrunch Mobility: Testing the Uber-Waymo robotaxi, Rivian goes hands-free, and Travis Kalanick has AV FOMO 

Waymo was slapped with nearly 600 parking tickets last year in SF alone

Waymo now has more than 300 driverless vehicles zipping passengers around San Francisco, but while they follow traffic laws, parking is another matter entirely. According to city records cited by the Washington Post, these rolling robots racked up 589 citations totaling $65,065 in fines last year for parking violations that ranged from blocking traffic to… Continue reading Waymo was slapped with nearly 600 parking tickets last year in SF alone

Rad Power Bikes already has a new CEO

Rad Power Bikes has named a new CEO, just a few days after its previous leader stepped down. The e-bike company has tapped Kathi Lentzsch, who has spent the last few decades helping turn around underperforming companies in both the consumer and B2B spaces. The change comes as Rad Power continues to shift away from… Continue reading Rad Power Bikes already has a new CEO

Travis Kalanick thinks Uber screwed up: “Wish we had an autonomous ride-sharing product”

Travis Kalanick, the former CEO of Uber, made it clear on Wednesday: he believes the company’s decision to abandon its autonomous driving program was a mistake. Said Kalanick at the Abundance Summit in L.A., “Look, [new management] killed the autonomous car project we had going on. At the time, we were really only behind Waymo… Continue reading Travis Kalanick thinks Uber screwed up: “Wish we had an autonomous ride-sharing product”