TechCrunch Mobility: Robotaxi reality check

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Robots are here! However, they are not.

He captures this contradiction precisely Waymo Current reality. Anyone walking around San Francisco could reasonably announce that robotaxis have arrived. But access, even at scale, does not guarantee permanence. This is the stubborn threat that hangs over every company trying to commercialize self-driving vehicles.

Waymo has temporarily suspended operations Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio Because its robotaxis struggle to cope with heavy rains and flooded roads — and to know exactly when not to enter them. As I was preparing to send out this newsletter, we learned that the company had expanded this to Austin and Nashville as well. It’s been an ongoing problem for Waymo, which… The company paid To issue a subpoena last week.

The same week, Waymo halted its robotaxi operations On highways In San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami, where it works to improve performance in construction zones.

At the moment, the arrival of robotaxis is conditional. This doesn’t mean this conditional state will last forever, but it is a reminder that commercial launch is not mission accomplishment. Waymo — arguably the leader in commercial robotaxi ridership and fleet size — is in the midst of this process. For every new city you enter or unlock its potential, a new edge state is discovered.

status or companymaxxing?

I’m abandoning my “Little Bird” section this week to delve into it SpaceXIPO, and put-in Elon Musk Business world.

I usually don’t devote a lot of space in this newsletter to space. Hey. but SpaceX IPO filing It went down this week, and the man at the helm is also heavily linked Tesla. So, here we are talking about space, and more specifically, how Elon Musk uses resources from one company to serve another.

The interconnected nature of Tesla and SpaceX is no secret; Tesla is a publicly traded company and discloses financial transactions with other entities affiliated with Musk. This new IPO filing does the same thing with more detail. And now Musk’s company xAI Combined with SpaceX, the IPO puts all of these transactions under one company.

For example, SpaceX purchased $506 million worth of Tesla’s commercial energy storage products, called Megapack, in 2025 — a nearly three-fold increase from the previous year. SpaceX also bought Cybertrucks for $131 million last year. SpaceX paid Musk’s infrastructure company, The Boring Company, $1 million to build tunnels in Bastrop, Texas. Musk’s social media company, which was acquired by xAI last year and has since merged with SpaceX, also spent $1 million leasing space from The Boring Company.

Then there’s Tesla’s investment in XAI. After SpaceX acquired xAI, this investment was converted into an ownership stake in SpaceX.

These costs will likely outpace two future SpaceX-Tesla projects: construction of Terafab, a chip manufacturing facility, and Macrohard, an artificial intelligence platform the two companies are developing that will use autonomous agents to augment the work of humans.

All of this leads to my question to you. Will SpaceX and Tesla merge?

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For other SpaceX coverage, check out these stories:

It’s all in SpaceX’s IPO filing
A breakdown of how Elon Musk is increasing his power
Who will benefit most?
xAI burned through $6.4 billion last year
xAI continues to shift to gas turbines to power data centers

Offers!

On boarda Southern California-based startup developing long-range electric travel trailers, It raised $13 million In a pre-Series A round led by Ondine Capital and Llama Ventures. Fun fact: The company has hired Richard Kim — an automotive designer known for his work on the BMW i3 and i8 and as co-founder of electric vehicle startup Canoo — as an advisor.

Supplyan Arlington, Virginia-based startup developing a distributed sensor network for ships 43 million dollars In a Series A funding round co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital.

May navigationa startup in the field of autonomous vehicle technology, was formed Strategic agreement with ikarxan automotive technology company backed by Geely founder Li Shufu. Under the deal, Ecarx will supply May Mobility with thousands of purpose-built robotics vehicles. The two companies plan to partner with a third party to initially deploy the autonomous vehicles next year and scale them to market by 2028. The total value of the project is estimated at approximately $750 million over its entire duration.

ScabiaAn Indian travel booking startup, It raised $63 million In a financing round led by General Catalyst, with participation from existing investors Peak XV Partners and Z47.

Uber It increased its stake and now owns 19.5% of the German food delivery company Delivery Hero. Bloomberg reported.

Notable Readings and Other Stories

Brian Raymera research scientist at MIT, shared Last offer On artificial intelligence and how its future depends on human behavior, governance and trust.

The global electric vehicle economy is K-shapedThis is the country that has fallen behind.

Lyft Published a blog Which determines the company’s position on self-driving vehicles. From her point of view – something like a competitor Uber – Passenger transportation service requires human drivers and robots. This makes political sense; Lyft doesn’t want to inconvenience human workers. It also reflects the realities of where robots are in terms of volume. The result: Robots are not part of the daily lives of most people in the United States.

Self-driving technology rolls out only Hired Michael Mancini CFO. Mancini was previously CFO at Energy Recovery, Astranis Space Technologies and Aerion Supersonic.

excellentthe automaker behind the Jeep and Ram brands, has tapped a self-driving startup WIFI To bring Hands-free driving to its cars in 2028. Meanwhile, Stellantis unveiled its $70 billion transformation plan, which includes 11 new models for North America — and even some Chrysler cars!

Tesla Driver assistance software is now available for fully autonomous driving (supervised). In Lithuania. This is the second European country to approve its use. Reminder: Making FSD available in Europe is crucial to Tesla and CEO Elon Musk’s ambitions. It’s also financially important to Musk. Trillion dollar salary package It is linked to achieving a number of product goals, including reaching “10 million active FSD subscriptions” by 2035.

San Francisco doctor who sued Waymo Because the identity verification system misidentified him as a terrorist The lawsuit was dropped After the company solved the problem.

Another thing…

Last time I was in Nissan leaf It was two years ago when I took my test drive 2024 Nissan Leaf SV PlusWhich costs $37,815 (including destination charge). At the time, the experience was described as mixed. I recently went back to one, this time a 2026 Nissan Leaf Platinum+priced at $42,635, including destination fees and some special extras like two-tone paint and a floor mat package.

This model, the third generation Leaf, has an improved range of 259 miles (with some versions exceeding 300 miles). But this wasn’t the first upgrade I noticed. This new Leaf has a lighter, more modern and, dare I say it, interior. I wouldn’t exactly say “stylish,” but it was fun and a noticeable upgrade. (Did you notice the gorgeous nighttime lighting in the photo above?) My version, which it should be noted was the top model, came with a wireless phone charging pad, a dimmed panoramic roof, a head-up display, and a long, curved 14.3-inch center screen.

Last time, I complained about the lack of technology in a $30,000+ car, like a high-resolution backup camera. There are several notable improvements that come standard that correct my previous criticisms, including a 360-degree camera, wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, and adaptive cruise control. This time, I was happy to be back in a Nissan Leaf.

Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosek at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com Or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.