Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Robotaxis are not just limited by weak technology. They unfortunately also don’t make any business sense…
SF Standard reports that Waymo is planning on switching to Iioniq 5 cars, but those vehicles have been found to be quite unreliable. Not ideal when you are trying to operate a fleet of them, mostly remotely.
electrek reports that Tesla has dodged a 30-day suspension in California by finally changing their false marketing campaigns. Tesla is completely dropping "AutoPilot" and will only refer to FSD through the amazing contradiction of "Full Self Driving (supervised)"
electrek fact checks Elon's statements on the alleged Tesla robotaxi service and finds that it is all just a bunch of lies.
The Verge reports on Waymo talking around one of their biggest problems: they don't manufacture cars. Therefore they have to adapt their technology to a series of vehicles. And note that the Zeekr is a Chinese import which current has a 100% tariff levied.
Newsweek reports that Waymo has finally publicly acknowledged that 1) their vehicles are not truly autonomous and need human help in driving in certain situations; and 2) this human driving help can be located many thousands of miles away, in the Philippines! No wonder Waymos run over kids and animals.
Waymo announces in their blog that they have raised another $16 billion and are now valued at $126 billion. Given they have a hopelessly money losing venture it is a shame that the money couldn't be spent on street safety infrastructure instead and actually make a difference.
The NY Times reports on how Tesla robotaxi hype has greatly inflated the Tesla stock price yet Tesla doesn't even have the technology for autonomous driving and no road to profitability.
NY Times reports on how China is now delaying their plans for widespread adoption of robotaxis. It turns out that they are no where near safe enough for full autonomy.
Bloomberg reports that Waymo is currently trying to raise $15 Billion in order to have a near $100 Billion valuation. If they have to run over a few cats and dogs to get there, so be it.
CNBC reports that Waymo is now planning on expanding to Baltimore, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.
KRON reports that Waymo acknowledges that one of their robotaxis struck and killed a beloved cat. But hey, they promise to make a donation to an unrelated cause.
TechCrunch covers how Waymo wants to arrest people who vandalize Waymo vehicles. Meanwhile they kill pets with impunity.
Reuters reports on how Tesla suddenly settled two "Autopilot" crash lawsuits, not long after losing a $243 million verdict against the company.
Gothamist reports that the opposition to NYC's Waymo pilot is quickly growing, especially amongst actual humans who drive taxis.
Reuters reports that Tesla could have settled their previous lawsuit for $60 million but insisted on fighting it which resulted in a much larger settlement of $243 million. Whoops!
