Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility \u2014 your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free \u2014 just click TechCrunch Mobility<\/a>!<\/p>\n A quick bit of breaking news that hit just as we were about to send this newsletter out. The <\/em>National Transportation Safety Board<\/em><\/strong> has opened an investigation into <\/em>Waymo <\/em><\/strong>after its robotaxis have been spotted illegally passing stopped school buses numerous times in at least two states. <\/em>Read the full story here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Now onto our regular programming \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Tesla<\/strong> made a couple of moves this week \u2014 and just before its quarterly earnings drops \u2014 designed to show its progress, and even dominance, in automated driving technology. But, hold up, there is more to it than mere optics.\u00a0<\/p>\n The week started with Tesla offering passengers robotaxi rides in Austin without a human safety driver <\/a>in the front seat. If you recall, Tesla launched a limited service in Austin last year with a fleet of modified Tesla Model Y vehicles running a more advanced version of the company\u2019s driving software known as Full Self-Driving Supervised (this one being \u201cunsupervised\u201d). Human safety operators have been riding in the front passenger seat as a precaution since the rollout.<\/p>\n Not all of Tesla\u2019s fleet in Austin will be fully driverless, and there is apparently a chase vehicle behind those that are. Still, it is notable and suggests Tesla is moving toward a broader ramp-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Tesla has killed Autopilot<\/a>, the advanced driver-assistance system that was initially introduced to its vehicles in 2014. Autopilot has gone through several software and hardware iterations over the years with new capabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n San Francisco<\/span> Autopilot was instantly popular and controversial, in part because the name implied the system was more capable than it actually was. (Drivers are responsible and are supposed to have their hands on the wheel when Autopilot is engaged.) <\/p>\n Tesla eventually made a basic Autopilot system standard in all of its vehicles, while launching and charging for a more robust system known now as Full Self-Driving (Supervised). The basic version, which is now dead, included traffic-aware cruise control, in which the vehicle maintains a set distance with cars ahead, and Autosteer, a feature that centers the vehicle in the lane and steers it.<\/p>\n Its decision to kill what was standard ADAS comes one week after Tesla said it would stop charging a one-time $8,000 fee for the FSD software and move all customers to a monthly subscription.\u00a0<\/p>\n These decisions when taken together offer a simple enough explanation: Tesla wants to recognize more revenue from FSD as it positions itself as an AI and robotics company.\u00a0<\/p>\n But there is another possible reason. The company is facing a 30-day suspension of its manufacturing and dealer licenses in California after a judge ruled in December that Tesla engaged in deceptive marketing<\/a> by overstating the capabilities of Autopilot and FSD.\u00a0<\/p>\n The ruling has been stayed for 60 days to allow Tesla to comply. Dropping the Autopilot name while cashing in on FSD is a rather bold move. But perhaps Tesla believes this is enough to satiate the DMV.<\/p>\n Zipline<\/strong>, the autonomous drone-delivery and logistics startup, has been around for more than a decade, starting in Rwanda delivering blood. Its progress has been slow and steady, notching wins in other African countries and expanding to the United States. That trajectory sped up after it launched a new drone platform in 2025 called P2 that focuses on home delivery of food and other goods.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, fueled with $600 million in new funding<\/a>, its expansion ambitions have grown. The company, which is now valued at $7.6 billion, is bringing its service to Houston and Phoenix and plans to expand to at least four more U.S. states in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Valor Equity Partners, and Tiger Global participated in the funding round.<\/p>\n Other deals that got my attention \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n ABZ Innovation<\/strong>, a Europe-based maker of heavy-duty agricultural and industrial drones, raised $8.2 million <\/a>in a funding round led by Vsquared Ventures, with participation from Assembly Ventures and Day One Capital.<\/p>\n Ethernovia<\/strong>, a San Jose, California-based startup that makes Ethernet-based systems for autonomous vehicles, raised $90 million<\/a> in a Series B funding round led by Maverick Silicon \u2014 an AI-focused fund created in 2024 by hedge fund Maverick Capital.<\/p>\n Serve Robotics<\/strong>, the sidewalk delivery robot company backed by Nvidia and Uber, acquired<\/a> Diligent Robotics<\/strong> in a deal that values the common stock at $29 million. Diligent builds robots named Moxi that are designed to assist in hospitals by delivering lab samples, supplies, and other tasks. Note: Watch for more autonomous vehicle tech-robotics crossovers in the coming year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Terralayr<\/strong>, a German grid-scale battery storage company, raised \u20ac192 million in a round led by Eurazeo<\/a>. RIVE Private Investment, Creandum, Earlybird, Norrsken VC, and Picus Capital also participated.<\/p>\n TrueCar<\/strong> founder Scott Painter reacquired the company in a $227 million deal<\/a> through his firm\u00a0Fair Holdings, and partners AutoNation, PenFed Credit Union, Zurich North America, and others. TrueCar will no longer be publicly traded, and Painter has returned to the CEO spot.<\/p>\n Austin Russell<\/strong>, the founder and former CEO of bankrupt lidar company Luminar, agreed to accept an electronic subpoena<\/a> for information on his phone pertaining to the company. The subpoena is related to Luminar\u2019s ongoing bankruptcy proceeding.<\/p>\n Chinese automaker Geely Holding Group<\/strong> released its five-year blueprint<\/a>, and among its many goals is a section on robotaxis. The company said that by 2030 its Cao Cao Mobility<\/strong> ride-hailing unit will operate a fleet of 100,000 robotaxis covering major cities in China. It also hinted at plans to expand beyond China \u201cin the future.\u201d<\/p>\n General Motors<\/strong> is moving production of two gas-powered vehicles away from China and Mexico and to a U.S. factory in Kansas. That change will also mean the end of its rebooted Chevrolet Bolt EV, the only vehicle currently built at the Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas. Read more to learn when production of the Chevy Bolt EV will end<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tesla<\/strong> aims to restart work on Dojo3<\/a>, the company\u2019s previously abandoned<\/a> third-generation AI chip. Dojo3 won\u2019t be aimed at training self-driving models. Instead, CEO Elon Musk says it will be dedicated to \u201cspace-based AI compute.\u201d<\/p>\n Waymo<\/strong> has opened its robotaxi service in Miami<\/a>. Riders will be accepted on a rolling basis, to the nearly 10,000 local residents on its waitlist.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alex Roy<\/strong>, who co-hosts the Autonocast with me and Ed Niedermeyer, just traveled from Los Angeles to New York in a Tesla Model S, in which the vehicle\u2019s Full Self-Driving Supervised software handled all of the driving<\/a>. This \u201cCannonball Run\u201d route is one Roy is familiar with; he set the transcontinental driving record in 2007 when he traveled the route in 31 hours and 4 minutes. He has gone on to make other Cannonball Run records in EVs. Others have followed and since beaten those records.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Roy, who captured the entire run on video, the FSD (version 14.2.2.3) drove 100% of the 3,081-mile journey. That included exiting the highway and parking at EV chargers. The time was 58 hours, 22 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility \u2014 your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free \u2014 just click TechCrunch Mobility! A quick bit of breaking news that hit just as we were about to send this newsletter out. The National Transportation … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TechCrunch-Mobility-RIP-Tesla-Autopilot-and-the-NTSB-investigates-Waymo.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18344"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18346,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18344\/revisions\/18346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n |<\/span>
\n October 13-15, 2026<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nDeals!<\/h2>\n
Notable reads and other tidbits<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/the-station-ride-hailing1.png\")
One more thing \u2026<\/h2>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"