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Wayve raises $1B to take its Tesla-like technology for self-driving to many carmakers

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Wayve, a U.K.-born startup developing a self-learning rather than rule-based system for autonomous driving, has closed $1.05 billion in Series C funding led by SoftBank Group. This is the U.K.’s largest AI fundraise ever and sits among the top 20 AI fundraises globally to date. Also participating in the raise was Nvidia and existing investor Microsoft. […]

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Lucid loses longtime Apple and Intel exec who steered software division

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Lucid Motors’ senior vice president of digital Mike Bell has resigned from his position. The company said in a filing Monday that the longtime Apple and Intel executive’s resignation is “effective immediately, in order to pursue other opportunities.” Lucid says Bell will serve in an advisory role through mid-August to help “transition” his duties at

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Lucid loses longtime Apple and Intel exec who steered software division

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Lucid Motors’ senior vice president of digital Mike Bell has resigned from his position. The company said in a filing Monday that the longtime Apple and Intel executive’s resignation is “effective immediately, in order to pursue other opportunities.” Lucid says Bell will serve in an advisory role through mid-August to help “transition” his duties at

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Hyundai antes up $1B for AV startup Motional and Elon unplugs the Tesla Supercharger team

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Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Before I jump into the all the news — and boy there was a lot! — I have an important update for all of you lovely readers. TechCrunch Mobility is moving to Thursdays! It will be the same

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Luminar cuts 20% of staff and outsources lidar production

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Lidar company Luminar is slashing its workforce by 20% and will lean harder on its contract manufacturing partner as part of a restructuring that will shift the company to a more “asset-light” business model, as it aims to scale production. The cuts will affect around 140 employees, and are starting immediately. Luminar is also cutting

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Fisker stiffed the engineering firm developing its low-cost EV and pickup truck, lawsuit claims

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Henrik Fisker stood on a stage last August and proudly debuted two prototypes designed to catapult his eponymous EV startup Fisker into the mainstream. There was the Pear, a low-cost EV meant for the masses, and the Alaska, Fisker’s entry into the red-hot pickup truck market. In the weeks that followed, Fisker stopped paying the

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Rivian wins $827M incentive package to expand Illinois factory for R2 production

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Rivian is getting $827 million in incentives from the state of Illinois to support building its next-generation electric vehicle, known as the R2. Rivian announced Thursday that the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will dole out the funds, which will be used to expand the automaker’s existing factory in Normal, Illinois,

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Hyundai is spending close to $1 billion to keep self-driving startup Motional alive

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Hyundai has agreed to spend nearly $1 billion on Motional, an investment that will give the automaker a majority stake while providing the self-driving startup with the necessary capital to keep operating. The Korean automaker invested $475 million directly into Motional as part of a broader deal that includes buying out joint venture partner Aptiv.

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Acura’s new all-electric SUV proves the most expensive model isn’t always the best

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The first electric vehicle I ever drove was a Tesla Roadster in 2011. I will never forget the feeling of the instant torque provided by the electric motor, propelling me to 60 miles per hour in less than four seconds — a feat my little Miata daily driver couldn’t even dream of doing. I’ve had

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Elon Musk guts Tesla’s charging team after winning over major automakers

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Tesla has gutted its charging team in a new round of layoffs, despite recently winning over major automakers like Ford and General Motors and making its connector the de facto standard in North America. Tesla’s Supercharger network has long been seen as one of its greatest competitive advantages. It’s widely available, has far better uptime

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