Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
The news media has expended considerable effort researching and publishing information about the robotaxi business. This channel highlights some of the important articles.
Waymo reports that they served 100k paid trips in a week. They should have also mentioned that they have about the same number of completely empty trips, clogging our roads and generating pollution.
The Verge reports that Waymo will be using fewer sensors in the future to lower costs. The article also explains that the vehicle in question will face a 100% tariff since it is made in China.
KRON4 reports that AWS is illegally putting robots on the sidewalks of Market Street in San Francisco. And they are solely for advertising, which is even more reprehensible.
Financial Times reports on how the emissions from Big Tech are growing rapidly, and how their "carbon offsets" are allowing them to hide their true emissions.
Jalopnik reports on how Waymo has managed to annoy people just trying to sleep - because they keep on honking at each other!
TechCrunch reports that Waymo is about to test their autonomous vehicles, without safety drivers, on San Francisco Bay Area freeways.
Bloomberg reports on how the vaporware robotaxi demo originally schedules for August 8th did of course not happen. Plus the whole robotaxi concept appears to simply be a diversion to boost up Tesla stock prices. And it has worked! Meanwhile, a motorcyclist was killed by a Tesla driver using FSD.
SF Standard reports that a Waymo drove into an intersection that was occupied by a driver doing donuts. The Waymo missed a collision by only one foot. Key is that Waymos still are not able to handle unexpected situations.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Aurora has raised $483 million. This was significantly over their $350 million offering, but increased due to investor demand. They still are looking for another $350 million in investments. Despite these large numbers they only now have enough cash for operations through the end of 2025.
Electrek reports on how crowd sourced data, limited as it is, shows that Tesla is nowhere near achieving a claimed 5x-10x improvement in miles between interventions for FSD.
AP reports that a Tesla driver using FSD struck an killed a motorcyclist in the Seattle area.
CNN reports on how an analyst from Truist Securities took up Elon Musk's statement that doubters of FSD should test-drive it. It did not work out well.
SF Chronicle reports that Waymo rides have risen dramatically, from 119k in April to 204k in May. And collisions doubled as well.
Wall Street Journal created two fascinating videos showing how investigators were able to obtain hidden Autopilot videos showing why Teslas have crashed. This is information that Tesla has tried to keep hidden, but hackers to the rescue. Tesla not using LiDAR sensors has been a deadly mistake.
NY Times reports on how Elon Musk's claim of Tesla magically creating robotaxis is completely detached from reality. Also, analysis don't even see how Waymo could turn robotaxis into a profitable business.
