All posts tagged: Robotaxis

TechCrunch Mobility: When a robotaxi has to call 911

TechCrunch Mobility: When a robotaxi has to call 911

Published by skeptic

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! Waymo shared that it is now providing 500,000 paid robotaxi rides every week. That number is small compared to its human-driven ride-hailing counterparts, like Lyft and Uber. But that’s not what I found most interesting. The pace of growth in rides, new markets, and how it compares to its fleet size is what got my attention. We built a chart (which you can view below) that helps visualize the rapid scale.  That scale, however, does create new challenges, including the inevitably of the robotaxis becoming paralyzed, like so many did during the blackout in California in December. It got us wondering, what happens when a robotaxi gets stuck — and who unsticks it?  Senior reporter Sean O’Kane dug into Waymo’s system (which includes its own roadside assistance team), as well as at least six incidents in which first responders had to …

Waymo’s skyrocketing ridership in one chart

Waymo’s skyrocketing ridership in one chart

Published by skeptic

Waymo is now providing 500,000 paid robotaxi rides every week across 10 U.S. cities, the company shared in a post on X this week. The eye-popping figure is reflective of the Alphabet-owned company’s accelerated commercial expansion. But it’s Waymo’s rate of growth in ridership and markets that offers a more compelling story.  In less than two years, the company’s average weekly paid robotaxi trips have grown tenfold, from 50,000 per week in May 2024 to 500,000 per week today. Over that same two-year timespan, Waymo has expanded within its initial markets of Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles — and beyond them to Austin, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando. Those seven cities in the Sun Belt were all added in just the past year. Waymo’s robotaxi fleet has also grown, although the company has guarded those numbers and rarely provides updates. Data provided in December 2025 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows the company had 3,067 robotaxis equipped with its 5th generation self-driving system. The company still uses that …

Zoox expands service area and is bringing robotaxis to 2 new cities

Zoox expands service area and is bringing robotaxis to 2 new cities

Published by skeptic

Robotaxi network and vehicle developer Zoox has shared some more key milestones as we sit nearly four months into its “year of growth.” That includes massive expansions to its existing network, added features for riders, and the deployment of Zoox’s purpose-built robotaxis in two new US cities. March has already been an exciting month for Zoox news, and it’s clearly not done yet. After surpassing one million fully autonomous miles in late 2025, following public rides in Las Vegas and an “Explorer Program” in San Francisco, the Amazon-backed robotaxi developer is gaining momentum in 2026. On March 9, Zoox announced plans to deploy its robotaxi test fleet to two additional cities – Dallas and Phoenix. Those two areas joined a list of other US cities already being mapped and tested for potential autonomous rides, including Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, and Washington, DC. Let’s not forget news days later, that Uber partnered with Zoox to include its truly driverless (no steering wheel or pedals) robotaxis on its rideshare network in Las Vegas this year, …

Zoox starts mapping Dallas and Phoenix for its robotaxis

Zoox starts mapping Dallas and Phoenix for its robotaxis

Published by skeptic

Zoox is now mapping the streets of Dallas, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona, as a precursor to testing its autonomous vehicles in the two Sun Belt cities. The company said on Monday that it had sent a small number of its Toyota Highlander SUVs to each city, where workers will drive them to help Zoox’s autonomous software get the lay of the land. Zoox will afterwards start testing its self-driving system using the SUVs in both cities, before switching to its purpose-built robotaxis. Zoox said the two new markets will help it collect data in areas that are different from the dense metros its vehicles currently operate in. Once the company goes live in Dallas and Phoenix, Zoox will operate in 10 cities in the United States, alongside Atlanta, Austin, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. The company is currently offering free rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco through its early-rider program. Zoox said it has driven more than a million autonomous miles in Las Vegas and …

Singaporeans ride China’s robotaxis and air taxis to glimpse a driverless future

Singaporeans ride China’s robotaxis and air taxis to glimpse a driverless future

Published by Sam Flores

FROM NOVELTY TO COMING REALITY EHang has said its air taxi services, when they are launched in future, are expected to cost 200 to 300 yuan (US$29 to US$44). A 10km robotaxi ride in Guangzhou, meanwhile, can cost about 20 yuan — with discounts — compared with 40 to 50 yuan for a regular taxi. Singaporean Formula 4 racer Kareen Kaur, 15, who checked out Shenzhen’s robotaxis, found them “efficient”. “When you book (one), it comes within five minutes,” she said. “I think if people … are in a rush, they can take it.” Her father and travel buddy, Kuldeep Singh, 46, was struck by the consistency of the driving. “As humans, right, we’ll just go (up) to 76, 78, 79kmh. You’re worried (about receiving a) summons,” he quipped. Source link

Self-driving tech startup Wayve raises .2B from Nvidia, Uber, and three automakers

Self-driving tech startup Wayve raises $1.2B from Nvidia, Uber, and three automakers

Published by skeptic

Wayve’s self-driving tech has attracted a diverse set of investors in the company’s latest $1.2 billion funding round, including three automakers, top venture and institutional firms, and returning backers Microsoft, Nvidia, and Uber. The total raise could reach $1.5 billion thanks to another $300 million from Uber contingent on deploying robotaxis, beginning in London. Everyone, it seems, wants a piece of the U.K. startup, which is now valued at $8.6 billion. The funding round illustrates the eagerness among Big Tech, legacy automakers, and the investor community to profit from the burgeoning automated driving industry.  Wayve provides what founder and CEO Alex Kendall calls the “contrarian” option in automated driving — contrarian both in its approach to tech and its business model, he told TechCrunch in an interview Tuesday. “I think the technology chessboard is set around where different companies have invested on the technology strategy, and now the commercial chessboard is being arranged,” Kendall said. “We took a very contrarian view on the technology side. We were the first to build end-to-end deep learning for autonomous …

Tesla’s battle with the California Department of Motor Vehicles isn’t over after all

Tesla’s battle with the California Department of Motor Vehicles isn’t over after all

Published by skeptic

Tesla has filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Motor Vehicles in an attempt to overturn an agency ruling. The state DMV ruled that Tesla used deceptive marketing to overstate the automated driving capabilities of its vehicles, thereby violating state law. The lawsuit reignites an issue that appeared to be resolved last week when the DMV said it would not suspend Tesla’s sales and manufacturing licenses for 30 days. This was because the EV maker complied with the ruling and stopped using the term “Autopilot” in its California marketing materials. CNBC was first to report the lawsuit. The DMV could have taken action against Tesla. It chose not to even though an administrative law judge agreed with the DMV’s request to suspend Tesla’s licenses for 30 days as a penalty. Instead of pulling its licenses, the state regulator gave Tesla 60 days to comply. And Tesla did, although in the most extreme ways. Tesla didn’t just stop using the term Autopilot; in January it discontinued Autopilot altogether in the U.S. and Canada. Perhaps it …

Government Docs Reveal New Details About Tesla and Waymo Robotaxis’ Human Babysitters

Government Docs Reveal New Details About Tesla and Waymo Robotaxis’ Human Babysitters

Published by skeptic

Are self-driving vehicles really just big, remote-controlled cars, with nameless and faceless people in far-off call centers piloting the things from behind consoles? As the vehicles and their science-fiction-like software expand to more cities, the conspiracy theory has rocketed around group chats and TikToks. It’s been powered, in part, by the reluctance of self-driving car companies to talk in specifics about the humans who help make their robots go. But this month, in government documents submitted by Alphabet subsidiary Waymo and electric-auto maker Tesla, the companies have revealed more details about the people and programs that help the vehicles when their software gets confused. The details of these companies’ “remote assistance” programs are important because the humans supporting the robots are critical in ensuring the cars are driving safely on public roads, industry experts say. Even robotaxis that run smoothly most of the time get into situations that their self-driving systems find perplexing. See, for example, a December power outage in San Francisco that killed stop lights around the city, stranding confused Waymos in several …

Uber Has Big Plans for Lots More Robotaxis and EV Charging Stations

Uber Has Big Plans for Lots More Robotaxis and EV Charging Stations

Published by skeptic

The robotaxi industry is poised for big growth. Uber apparently wants to make sure it’s in the driver’s seat. The ride-hailing company announced Wednesday that it will spend more than $100 million to build autonomous vehicle charging stations in US cities, starting in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Dallas, with more cities to be added later.  Uber currently operates robotaxis in Atlanta and Austin, through a partnership with Waymo. Waymo dominates the robotaxi market in the US, with operations in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. But the industry is growing fast. Grand View Research forecasts the robotaxi market to increase from an estimated $610 million last year to $147.25 billion by 2033. Uber also operates autonomous vehicle fleets in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and said it expects to add at least London and Munich to its global operations. It said it plans to offer autonomous vehicles for riders in at least 10 cities by the end of 2026. The charging stations will be situated at new autonomous vehicle depots, which will also conduct cleaning, maintenance …

Tesla Robotaxis Crashing Vastly More Often Than Human Drivers

Tesla Robotaxis Crashing Vastly More Often Than Human Drivers

Published by José Betancourt

Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Jay Janner / Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images The ostensible point of robotaxis is that they’re supposed to be safer drivers than humans. Tesla, apparently, didn’t get that memo. According to updated filings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration examined by Electrek, the Elon Musk-owned automaker has reported another five crashes involving its capital-R “Robotaxis,” for a total of 14 documented collisions since the service began operating in Austin, Texas last June. The newly reported crashes were submitted by Tesla last month and occurred between December 2025 and January 2026. They include a collision with a fixed object at 17 miles per hour, a crash with a bus while the Robotaxi was stationary, a crash with a truck at four miles per hour, and two incidents in which the Tesla backed into a pole or tree. Because Tesla heavily censors its crash reports, it’s impossible to get a clear idea of what happened in any of these incidents. No amount of blank ink, however, can cover the …