The news media has expended considerable effort researching and publishing information about the robotaxi business. This channel highlights some of the important articles.
NY Times article on the difficulties Cruise is facing to restarting commercial robotaxi service. Given their many problems described in the article one has to assume that GM will dump Cruise sooner rather than later.
Fortune reports on how difficult the robotaxi business is, and how Waymo has outlasted the other companies. But somehow Fortune is impressed with Waymo serving 50,000 rides/week. At $20/ride this is only about $50 million a year, a pittance compared to the billion dollars+ that they are spending.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that the federal regulation of vehicle automation is currently completely inadequate. Six US senators have called attention to how the NHTSA needs to change their hands off approach to autonomous vehicles.
StreetBlogs reports that autonomous vehicles are not doing very well, and many people are skeptical of them. Now advocates are demanding regulations for safety.
Electrek reports that after years of refusing, Tesla is finally reporting more in depth data for its (non-auto) Autopilot. And the numbers explain why they stopped reporting data completely back in 2022.
Somehow a Waymo was driving down a slow alley in Phoenix yet managed to hit a very large pole with enough speed to crumple the front end. The waiting passengers were not impressed and did not accept the offer of a replacement Waymo, one which got stuck at the crash scene.
Opinion piece in Bloomberg on how Elon Musk's pursuit of robotaxis could be a huge setback for Tesla. Musk has placed more of Tesla’s fortunes in the hands of public officials and processes beyond the routinely accommodating environs of the boardroom and the stock market. Reality, and a lower stock price, will surely result.
Article by Electrek on Elon Musk's latest extortion attempt. Given that Tesla is not an AI nor a robotics company, that Elon Musk knows nothing about either of those technologies, and that working on them would only distract Tesla from selling more cars, this is a prime opportunity for the Tesla Board to exercise their fiduciary responsibility and simply state "no thanks".
