Uber Technologies shares dropped sharply after the company issued third-quarter earnings guidance below analyst expectations while announcing plans to invest over $10 billion in robotaxi expansion. The weak outlook comes amid uncertainty over its partnership with Waymo, though Uber maintains the Alphabet unit remains an important partner.
Mobility company Moove has secured $250 million in Series C funding led by Mubadala Investment Company, with co-leads Woven Capital (Toyota) and Ion Pacific, to scale its autonomous vehicle fleet infrastructure. The Dubai-based company, which started in Lagos in 2020, now operates approximately 42,000 vehicles across 13 countries.
Transport for London granted private hire vehicle licenses to Uber Technologies Inc. and UK startup Wayve Technologies Ltd., allowing them to offer self-driving taxi rides with a safety driver present. The approval makes them the first companies authorized for autonomous taxi services in London, ahead of competitors Waymo and Baidu.
Amazon's autonomous vehicle unit Zoox will begin charging fares for robotaxi rides in Las Vegas starting August 10, following federal approval to operate vehicles without human controls. This marks the first commercial deployment of fully autonomous robotaxis in the United States.
Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors is reportedly negotiating to acquire Ambarella, a specialist in edge-AI vision processors used in autonomous vehicles and security cameras. Ambarella's shares surged nearly 17% on the news while NXP fell over 3%.
Amazon's autonomous vehicle unit Zoox has secured approval from US auto safety regulators for limited commercial deployment of its steering-wheel-free robotaxis, marking the first such authorization in the autonomous ride industry.
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung presented the company's Physical AI roadmap at a San Francisco AI Summit and met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to discuss collaboration on autonomous driving, robotics, and manufacturing AI. The meetings occurred as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung led a delegation of business leaders to deepen AI partnerships with global tech companies.
Alphabet's autonomous driving unit Waymo is considering options to exit its robotaxi partnership with Uber Technologies as relations between the two companies deteriorate amid increasing competition in the self-driving vehicle market.
Amnon Shashua, who founded Mobileye in 1999 and has served as CEO since, announced he will step down as the autonomous-driving technology company pushes into robotaxi services and robotics. The leadership transition, combined with disappointing third-quarter guidance, sent shares down about 15% despite strong Q2 results.
World model AI startup Odyssey ML, founded by self-driving vehicle pioneers, secured $310 million in funding at a $1.45 billion valuation. The round was backed by Amazon, Nvidia, AMD, CIA-linked fund IQT, and Google chief scientist Jeff Dean.
China has halted the issuance of new autonomous vehicle licenses following incidents involving Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxi service, according to Bloomberg sources. The suspension represents a significant regulatory intervention in China's autonomous vehicle rollout.
