The money and the metal both moved this week. Waymo closed its first-ever debt deal — a $5 billion loan led by PIMCO, Blackstone and Sixth Street — a sign the robotaxi buildout is now bankable, not just…
Minneapolis became the first US city to vote for mandatory human monitors in driverless cars — and its mayor vetoed the ordinance a day later, sending the fight back to a council that passed it 7-6. Tesla had its…
The gap between Tesla's robotaxi paperwork and its actual service was the story of the week. Texas registrations surged past 500 vehicles — Cybercab registrations more than doubled to 126 in a matter of days — yet…
Waymo opened its 15th US market this week, launching invite-based public rides in Las Vegas on September 14 with dozens of Ojai minivans on the Strip. Three days later it announced Singapore as its next international…
A quieter week on the launch front, but a big one for distribution and regulation. Waymo's robotaxis went live on the Lyft app in Nashville, making it the first city where the company sells rides through two rival…
The robotaxi race had its biggest week of the year. Waymo opened public rides in Denver, San Diego, and Tampa on the same day — September 1 — bringing it to 14 US metros, a fleet above 4,000 vehicles, and 500,000 paid…
Waymo made its biggest strategic move in years, announcing Munich as its first international market with public service targeted for late 2027. Tesla set a September 3 launch event in Austin to put the pedal-less…
Las Vegas just became the industry's next proving ground: on August 20 the Nevada Transportation Authority approved commercial robotaxi permits for Tesla (up to 5,000 vehicles), Waymo (1,000), and Uber's partner fleets…
The biggest robotaxi story of the week came from Sacramento, not a launch event: California regulators approved Waymo to charge for fully driverless rides across 18 counties covering most of the state's population, in…
The week's biggest news came from neither Waymo nor Tesla: Amazon's Zoox won the first-ever federal exemption for a passenger vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals, and starts charging for Las Vegas rides on August…
The week's biggest milestone came from neither Waymo nor Tesla: Amazon's Zoox won the first-ever federal exemption allowing paid rides in robotaxis with no steering wheel or pedals, clearing it to start charging in Las…
The biggest robotaxi news this week came from Washington: NHTSA's proposed brake-pedal rule would create the first permanent federal pathway for pedal-free robotaxis and end the 2,500-vehicle-per-year production cap —…
The week the industry's biggest partnership cracked. Uber and Waymo are ending their exclusive arrangement in Austin and Atlanta — and Waymo is reportedly weighing walking away from Uber entirely, betting its own app…