News

The news media has expended considerable effort researching and publishing information about the robotaxi business. This channel highlights some of the important articles.

News, Safety, Tesla

AutoEvolution – Study Confirms That Alienating Drivers From Driving Is Not the Safest Approach

News Republisher
02/15/25

AutoEvolution reports on a study that shows that only some ADAS systems actually improve safety. These useful features include Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), which reduces crash probability by 19.1%. The second most effective safety driving aid was the Driver Monitoring System (DMS), which lowered accident risks by 14%. Finally, we also have Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), with the third-highest crash rate reduction of 10.7%.

$$$, News, Politics, Tesla

Wired – Elon Musk’s Toxicity Could Spell Disaster for Tesla

News Republisher
02/14/25
Rev 02/20/25

Wired reports on how far Elon Musk's reputation has suffered, and how it could easily drag down the entire company with him. This is yet another nail in the coffin for Tesla's robotaxi endeavors.

News, Safety, Tesla

Tesla Cybertruck runs into stationary pole at high speed while in “autonomous” FSD mode

Michael Smith
02/10/25
Rev 02/15/25

A Tesla Cybertruck being driven autonomously by FSD does not detect a very large traffic pole and jumps the curb and crashes right into it. This happened immediately in front of an elementary school, that was fortunately closed at the time.

News, Safety, Waymo

KTLA – Driverless taxi filled with passengers rear-ended by hit-and-run driver in downtown L.A.

News Republisher
02/7/25

KTLA reports that a Waymo was rear ended by a hit-and-run driver. 3 of the 4 passengers in the Waymo were transported to the hospital due to injuries.

$$$, News, Tesla

electrek – Tesla CFO, chairwoman, and Elon’s brother sold tens of millions worth of TSLA stock

News Republisher
02/6/25
Rev 02/7/25

electrek reports that Tesla Board members have recently sold tens of millions of dollars of TSLA stock, indicating that they don't have a huge amount of faith in the future of the company.

$$$, News, Waymo, Zoox

The Register – Uber CEO warns robotaxis can’t find a fast route to commercial viability

News Republisher
02/6/25

The Register reports on key remarks from Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Dara states that robotaxis are inherently expensive and there is not a path forward for successfully commercializing them.

News, Safety, Tesla

elektrek – Elon Musk-approved Tesla Full Self-Driving dataset doubled: what’s the state of FSD now?

News Republisher
02/6/25

elektrek reports that the head of FSD at Tesla has stated that based on this data FSD still needs a 1,400x further improvement to enable unsupervised self-driving.

News, Safety, Waymo

ABC7 reports on Waymo’s driving through a sinkhole at full speed, even though the intersection was closed

News Republisher
02/4/25
Rev 02/5/25

ABC7 reports on Waymo's driving through a sinkhole at full speed, even though the intersection was closed. Video of course is worth 1,000 words.

News, Safety

Carscoops – Caught Speeding Too Much? This State Might Let Your Car Enforce the Law

News Republisher
02/4/25
Rev 02/5/25

Carscoop reports on how Washington State is considering requiring speed governors for those who received a suspended license. This is being proposed due to 70% of drivers with a suspended license continuing to drive.

$$$, Cruise, News

Reuters – GM takes full control of Cruise in autonomous personal vehicle shift

News Republisher
02/4/25
Rev 02/5/25

Reuters reports that GM has finished taking full control and all stock of Cruise. As part of the process, 1,000 Cruise employees were laid off in the past.

$$$, Cruise, News

TechCrunch – GM expects to save up to $1 billion on Cruise costs

News Republisher
01/28/25

TechCrunch reports on how CEO and Chair of GM Mary Barra made the best financial decision in shutting down Cruise. This will allow them to, unlike Tesla, maintain profitability in 2025.

News, Politics, Safety

Forbes – Study Shows Automatic Emergency Braking Improving As Trump Looks To Kill Mandate

News Republisher
01/27/25
Rev 01/28/25

Forbes reports that Automatic Emergency Braking has been shown to be effective, yet the mandate for it might be killed by the Trump administration.

$$$, News, Politics, Waymo

SF Examiner – Waymo went on SF lobbying spree last year

News Republisher
01/24/25

San Francisco Examiner reports on how Waymo more than double the times in 2024 where it had paid lobbyists meet with city government officials. Biggest effort is trying to get permission to serve San Francisco Airport, which would be quite lucative for Waymo.

News, Politics, Waymo

SF Chronicle – Could robotaxis be yet another reason for S.F.’s lack of new housing?

News Republisher
01/22/25

San Francisco Chronicle reports on how robotaxis are taking up valuable property that was was intended for housing.

News, Safety, Waymo

SF Chronicle – Person, dog killed as car at ‘extreme rate of speed’ hits 6 others in S.F., including Waymo

News Republisher
01/20/25

San Francisco Chronicle reports on how a person and a dog were killed and multiple cars were destroyed including a Waymo. This happened even though robotaxis are widely available in San Francisco. This dramatically shows that robotaxis are not the answer for safety. Instead, better street design is.