Bloomberg – Uber to Begin Offering Self-Driving Cruise Cars, Shares Fall
Bloomberg reports on an purported deal where Uber will offer Cruise robotaxi rides early 2025.
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
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Robotaxis are not just limited by weak technology. They unfortunately also don’t make any business sense…
Read MoreBloomberg – Uber to Begin Offering Self-Driving Cruise Cars, Shares Fall
Business Insider – Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover has ended up as the worst buyout deal for banks since the financial crisis
Business Insider reports that Elon Musk's buyout of Twitter was the worse deal for banks in a long time. The banks still are burdened by not being able to sell off these risky loans. This is more evidence that Tesla/Musk do not even have the financial capability of creating a robotaxi fleet.
Waymo likely making 100,000 empty trips per week now!
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 – Waymo’s new robotaxi will feature fewer sensors to help lower costs
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.
Financial Times – How Big Tech is quietly trying to reshape how pollution is reported
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.
Bloomberg – Elon Musk’s Delayed Tesla Robotaxis Are a Dangerous Diversion
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.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Aurora raises $483 million from public offering to fund driverless trucking launch
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 – Tesla Full Self-Driving data makes Elon Musk lower expectations
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.
CNN – Elon Musk said Tesla robotaxi skeptics should try ‘full self driving.’ A Wall Street analyst nearly crashed
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.
NY Times – Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Are Tesla’s Future. Experts Have Doubts.
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.
Business Insider – Elon Musk is probably getting a little nervous
Business Insider reports on the Q2 earnings call, and how Tesla investors are not happy with the situation. Elon Musk is definitely feeling the heat, though continues to spout falsehoods about the alleged Tesla robotaxi.
Jalopnik – Tesla’s Aging Cars Aren’t Selling So Elon’s Making Promises About AI And New Models
Editors note: this article is worthwhile for this one quote: In a lot of ways, Elon Musk has built a complete house of cards for his stock based on promises and ideas that’ll just get kicked further down the road. In the meantime, though, enjoy the meme possibilities. See original article by Andy…
NY Times – Tesla’s Profit Fell 45% in the Second Quarter on Weak E.V. Sales
NY Times reports that Tesla had another awful quarter, with year-over-year sales decline of 4.8% and profit drop of 45%. Meanwhile, other EV manufacturers are doing much better.
Cruise Q2 financials are much worse than presented
Michael Smith digs into the GM Q2 2024 financial returns and finds out that the financial situation of Cruise is far more precarious than presented.
NY Times – G.M. Will Restart Cruise Taxi Service
NY Times reports that Cruise has restarted operations in Dallas, Houston and Phoenix, though with human safety drivers. Article also reports that Cruise has lost $500 million for the first 6 months of 2024.
