Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company plans to launch a paid driverless ride-hailing service with a fleet of driverless vehicles in Austin by June. The exact details about the service’s geo-fence and operational constraints are still unknown, but it seems to be intended as a way to drum up excitement for Tesla’s flat automotive business.
Meanwhile, Cruise CEO Marc Whitten told employees that their roles may need to change due to the company’s plans, which are subject to board approval. However, those who haven’t received notifications yet aren’t necessarily at risk of losing their jobs.
In other mobility news, Moove, a French smart electric bike startup backed by Uber, has expanded its fleet via acquisitions and reached $275 million in annual revenue. Angell, another French startup, is nearing bankruptcy, while Bonsai Robotics, an autonomous agriculture startup, raised $15 million in funding.
TravelPerk, a business travel management platform, secured $200 million at a valuation of $2.7 billion, while UVeye, the Israeli startup that developed a vision-based “MRI for cars,” raised $191 million in debt financing. Voi, the Swedish shared micromobility giant, eked out its first profitable year in 2024.
Autonomous vehicles made headlines this week, with GM saying it expects to save up to $1 billion annually by ending its Cruise robotaxi development program. Kodiak Robotics handed off two autonomous trucks to customer Atlas Energy Solutions for driverless operations in an off-road environment.
Waymo began testing driverless vehicles on Los Angeles freeways and plans to bring its robotaxis to 10 U.S. cities this year. The company also increased lobbying activity in San Francisco, targeting airport access.
Electric vehicle news included Lucid Gravity SUV owners gaining access to Tesla Superchargers and Rivian facing lawsuits from former employees who claim they were harassed by executives. Apple admitted that next-gen CarPlay is late but still in development, while Amazon expanded its drone delivery service to the U.K.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/30/boom-goes-supersonic-and-elon-promises-a-self-driving-service-by-summer