TechCrunch Mobility: Uber bets on its former CEO

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Tesla kicked off earnings season — at the very least for this sector — and the shareholder letter, together with Elon Musk’s remarks through the convention name, supplied some fairly unbelievable disclosures I think about have some traders involved, or at the very least puzzled.

Tesla has backed off previous promises to succeed in “quantity manufacturing” of the Cybercab, Tesla Semi, and Megapack 3 in 2026. And whereas the corporate has publicly touted expansions of its Tesla Robotaxi service into new cities in Florida and Texas, the quarter-over-quarter knowledge exhibits a drop in paid robotaxi miles.

Senior reporter Sean O’Kane took a closer look at a graph shared in Tesla’s shareholder letter.  At a passing look, the chart seems to point out regular progress in paid robotaxi rides between August 2025 and June 2026, O’Kane notes. However the numbers displayed are cumulative, and when damaged down by quarter, they present that Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet of Mannequin Y SUVs carrying paying passengers lined round 1.1 million miles within the first quarter. That fell to roughly 700,000 miles within the second quarter, a decline of about 36%.

Musk additionally disclosed through the name that Tesla must accumulate driving knowledge particular to the Cybercab earlier than it could actually put massive numbers of the autos on the highway. That isn’t terribly shocking; the Cybercab is new, in any case. However the motive received my consideration. He defined that Tesla has to build up miles utilizing Cybercabs retrofitted with steering wheels and accelerator and braking pedals so it could actually calibrate to the Cybercab chassis.

This marks a change from the corporate’s earlier claims. For years, Tesla has stated its fleet of practically 10 million buyer vehicles has been amassing knowledge that might be used to coach its superior driver-assistance system, Full Self-Driving (Supervised), and future robotaxis. Musk’s clarification suggests there’s a misalignment between that fleet knowledge and the way it’s utilized to the Cybercab.

On the monetary entrance, Tesla’s Q2 earnings present an organization plowing cash into its subsequent technology of merchandise (CapEx has doubled, and the corporate is again in detrimental free money stream territory). And despite the fact that income is up, the increase wasn’t sufficient to offset the price of doing enterprise. The corporate’s web earnings fell 5% yr over yr.

Offers!

Travis Kalanick burst again onto the robotics and mobility scene earlier this yr with Atoms — a rebranded holding firm atop his ghost kitchen challenge — and a deal to accumulate Anthony Levandowski’s industrial automation startup, Pronto. Now the Uber co-founder and former CEO has $1.7 billion in capital to play with. VC large Andreessen Horowitz led the spherical with participation from Bain Capital, Fifth Wall, and Uber. Ben Horowitz will be part of the corporate’s board following the funding.

This may increasingly appear inconceivable for individuals who keep in mind Kalanick’s resignation from Uber’s prime management spot practically a decade in the past — and the string of scandals and lawsuits within the yr main as much as his departure. What’s much more unbelievable is that Uber participated within the funding spherical. The Data reported Uber invested $100 million into Atoms; conversations I’ve had since affirm that determine and supplied new info, together with that the funding was made six months in the past.

Reminder: In 2016 and whereas Kalanick was CEO, Uber acquired Levandowski’s self-driving vehicles startup Otto. Lower than a yr later, Levandowski’s former employer Waymo (Google self-driving challenge) sued Uber for trade secret theft. The businesses settled on the fifth day of the trial.

There may be lots of historical past, a lot of it messy, between Kalanick and Uber (to not point out Levandowski). Nevertheless it seems the ride-hailing firm remains to be prepared to spend money on them.

So what’s Atoms going to do with this capital? The main points are imprecise, however an organization e mail from Levandowski means that Pronto shall be an enormous a part of these plans.

The e-mail states that “Atoms is investing closely in Industrial AI and bodily automation utilized to mining and transport.” And later, “Pronto is a core strategic precedence for Atoms, and this spherical is designed to speed up precisely what issues most to your operations: scaling sensible, OEM-agnostic autonomy.”

Different offers that received my consideration …

Closing drivethe Swedish electrical and autonomous trucking firm, agreed to acquire EV charging startup Flipturn in an all-stock deal price $38 million.

IBM agreed to purchase HRL Laboratoriesa quantum computing research lab collectively owned by Boeing and Basic Motors.

Theythe battery supplies startup, raised $300 million in a spherical led by Atreides Administration and Sutter Hill Ventures with participation from 8VC, Bessemer Enterprise Companions, Matrix Companions, and funds and accounts suggested by T. Rowe Worth Associates Inc. The cash shall be used to broaden Sila’s manufacturing facility in Washington state to supply sufficient anode materials for greater than 100,000 EVs.

Notable reads and different tidbits

Aurora had some information this week that didn’t get a ton of consideration, however in all probability ought to. The corporate launched its second-generation driverless truckswhich embody new {hardware} that’s smaller, in addition to upgraded sensor-cleaning methods and prolonged vary lidar — all of which is constructed for a million-mile service life. The preliminary fleet shall be modest and used on its Dallas-to-Houston route. The fleet will ultimately attain 200 driverless vehicles by the tip of the yr and shall be used to haul freight for patrons like Hirschbach, Uber Freight, McLane, and Detmar, the corporate stated. Importantly for Aurora, these vehicles don’t have a human observer within the cab.

Ford is popping to Apple for its subsequent technology of EVs. Particularly, Ford goes to combine Apple Maps navigation and mappingutilizing a brand new set of developer instruments referred to as MapKit for Automotive, into its new line of electrical autos, beginning with the $30,000 midsize truck in 2027. I requested Ford what this implies for Googlewhich is an current companion. An organization spokesperson informed me the Apple announcement “doesn’t change the function of Google Automotive Companies throughout our present and near-term manufacturing packages.”

The Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security launched a research referred to as “Rise of the machines: crash experiences of highly automated vehicles and human drivers.” The group used a much more clickbaity headline (Waymo’s driverless vehicles crash much less usually than individuals) to direct of us to its work. Sadly, that headline misses a part of the purpose. The research does present proof that Waymo’s present robotaxis have decrease crash involvement charges than human drivers. “Total, when together with police-reportable crashes, Waymo’s crash fee was 68% decrease than that of human drivers,” the research reads. It additionally, importantly, concludes that national-crash and vehicle-miles-traveled knowledge assortment for Degree 4 autos “could be improved for extra well timed and correct security evaluations.”

Mobileye founder and CEO Amnon Shashua plans to step down from the top leadership post after practically three many years, simply as the corporate pushes into robotaxis and humanoid robots.

The Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration will look into creating new requirements for automakers to make sure drivers and passengers can safely exit their autos — the results of a petition that requested the company to open a security defect investigation into the emergency mechanical door launch design on 2022 Tesla Mannequin 3 autos. To be clear, this doesn’t imply there shall be new guidelines.

Rivian has sued the U.S. authorities for a “full refund” on tariffs paid underneath President Trump’s “Liberation Day” taxes, which the Supreme Court docket later dominated unconstitutional.

Two Volkswagen engineers have been charged with securities fraud after allegedly profiting off of insider info associated to the German automaker’s three way partnership with Rivian.

Waymo is having inner discussions over tips on how to end its contract with Uberthe Monetary Instances reported. Shut followers of this partnership might need learn this, rolled their eyes, and stated “DUH!” However there are some attention-grabbing particulars in right here, together with that Uber-Waymo contract that covers Atlanta and Austin ends in Could 2028. Uber informed TechCrunch that Waymo says it intends to launch its personal app in Austin and Atlanta in January 2028.

WhatsApp is rolling out a collection of latest options, together with a revamped Apple CarPlay and Android Auto expertise.