autonomous vehicles

Vecna Robotics raises $14.5M and taps former Motional CEO to lead startup

Transportation /

Karl Iagnemma, an early pioneer in the autonomous vehicle industry who recently stepped down as president and CEO from Hyundai-backed Motional, is back in the AV and robotics game. Vecna Robotics, a Massachusetts-based startup that uses robots to handle materials in warehouses, has hired Iagnemma as CEO. The robotics startup, which has developed autonomous pallet […]

Vecna Robotics raises $14.5M and taps former Motional CEO to lead startup Read More »

Zoox rolls outs custom robotaxi in San Francisco, Las Vegas

Transportation /

Zoox is testing its custom robotaxis, which are built without a steering wheel or pedals, on public roads in San Francisco and the Las Vegas Strip.  The rollout of the autonomous vehicles, which Zoox CTO Jesse Levinson first announced at TechCrunch Disrupt, is a public show of force from the Amazon-backed company. Federal regulations prohibit

Zoox rolls outs custom robotaxi in San Francisco, Las Vegas Read More »

Monarch Tractor lays off 10% in restructuring towards software and licensing AV tech

Transportation /

Monarch Tractor has laid off around 10% of its workforce as part of a restructuring that will see it prioritize non-agricultural customers, license its autonomous technology, and boost sales of its AI-powered farm management software, TechCrunch has learned. Around 35 employees were cut this week by the Livermore, California-based autonomous electric tractor startup that has

Monarch Tractor lays off 10% in restructuring towards software and licensing AV tech Read More »

Lyft partners with May Mobility, Mobileye to bring autonomous vehicles to the app

Transportation /

It seems Lyft is hoping to catch up to Uber’s string of autonomous vehicle partnerships. Lyft announced Wednesday three separate partnerships — with startup May Mobility, automated driving company Mobileye and smart dashcam firm Nexar — all aimed at establishing a foothold in the emerging autonomous vehicle market. In the announcement, the ride-hailing company said

Lyft partners with May Mobility, Mobileye to bring autonomous vehicles to the app Read More »

Waymo’s latest funding round boosts it to a $45B valuation

Transportation /

Waymo recently closed a $5.6 billion Series C funding round led by parent company Alphabet and joined by a who’s who of Silicon Valley venture firms. The investment boosts Waymo’s overall valuation to more than $45 billion, according to Bloomberg News. Alphabet had previously announced in July that it was pledging another $5 billion to

Waymo’s latest funding round boosts it to a $45B valuation Read More »

‘If you actually are solving a problem, you don’t talk about any of the hype,’ investor says

Venture /

The hype is palpable: As tech folks from near and far converge for TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 in San Fransisco — one of the only places where Waymo is available to the public — there’s ample chatter about the autonomous vehicle service. “If you think about AI hype and all, everyone gets excited about what 10

‘If you actually are solving a problem, you don’t talk about any of the hype,’ investor says Read More »

Zoox custom robotaxis are finally coming to San Francisco and Las Vegas

Transportation /

Amazon-owned AV company Zoox will start rolling out dozens of its purpose-built autonomous vehicle in San Francisco and in Las Vegas in the coming weeks, co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson announced on the TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 stage. Levinson said that Zoox will start offering rides — starting with employees — in the SoMa neighborhood of

Zoox custom robotaxis are finally coming to San Francisco and Las Vegas Read More »

Tesla is testing a robotaxi service that Elon Musk claims will launch next year

Transportation /

Elon Musk said he hopes to launch a service that will let people hail self-driving Tesla vehicles in California and Texas sometime in 2025 — and claims his company has already been testing the service in the Bay Area with employees. The comments, made Wednesday on Tesla’s third-quarter earnings call, go farther than what Musk

Tesla is testing a robotaxi service that Elon Musk claims will launch next year Read More »

Wayve starts testing its buzzy end-to-end self-driving tech in the US

Transportation /

Buzzy, well-funded U.K. startup Wayve is starting to test its self-learning automated driving software in San Francisco, and it’s celebrating that entry into the U.S. by also opening an office in Sunnyvale, California. Wayve says it will start by testing a more limited version of its automated driving system — which is self-learning versus rules-based,

Wayve starts testing its buzzy end-to-end self-driving tech in the US Read More »