Waymo buys Apple’s abandoned self-driving car proving ground for $220M
Waymo buys Apple’s abandoned self-driving car proving ground for $220M

Waymo has acquired a massive 5,500-acre autonomous vehicle proving ground in Wittmann, Arizona, for $220 million — nearly double the $125 million Apple paid for it in 2021. The facility was the centerpiece of Apple’s now-dead self-driving car program.

Tesla expands ‘Robotaxi’ to entire Austin metro — but still has only ~20 vehicles
Tesla expands ‘Robotaxi’ to entire Austin metro — but still has only ~20 vehicles

Tesla announced today that its unsupervised “Robotaxi” service now covers the entire Austin metro area, a significant expansion of its geofenced operating zone.

It’s a notable milestone on paper, but the actual fleet serving this massive area remain…

Tesla patents camera wiper for self-driving — resulting in more doubts for FSD owners
Tesla patents camera wiper for self-driving — resulting in more doubts for FSD owners

Tesla has been granted a new patent for a miniature camera cleaning system with a built-in wiper designed to keep vehicle cameras clear for autonomous driving.

The patent addresses one of the most frustrating and well-known issues with Tesla’s “Full…

Waymo’s newest robotaxi is Chinese-made, built to make money, and now accepting riders

The launch of the Ojai minivan robotaxi comes after years of development and testing, but arrives amid a challenging time for Waymo.

Waymo starts offering rides in new Ojai robotaxi with 6th-gen Driver
Waymo starts offering rides in new Ojai robotaxi with 6th-gen Driver

Waymo is beginning to offer select riders trips in its new purpose-built Ojai robotaxi, debuting the company’s 6th-generation Driver hardware across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Trips will be free for a limited time.

The Ojai represents …

Tesla’s own AI trainers don’t trust ‘Full Self-Driving’ or its safety stats, Reuters finds
Tesla’s own AI trainers don’t trust ‘Full Self-Driving’ or its safety stats, Reuters finds

A major Reuters investigation published today reveals that Tesla’s widely touted “Full Self-Driving” safety statistics are built on deeply flawed methodology — and that the company’s own data labelers, the workers who train the AI system, don’t trust t…

Tesla ‘Robotaxi’ fleet is actually shrinking, not growing, new data shows
Tesla ‘Robotaxi’ fleet is actually shrinking, not growing, new data shows

Less than a month after we reported that Tesla’s unsupervised “Robotaxi” fleet was finally showing some signs of growth, new data from the Robotaxi Tracker tells a different story. The fleet is actually shrinking.

The number of active unsupervised T…

TechCrunch Mobility: Robotaxi reality check

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation.

Musk says Tesla unsupervised FSD will be ‘widespread’ in the US by year-end — again
Musk says Tesla unsupervised FSD will be ‘widespread’ in the US by year-end — again

Elon Musk claimed that Tesla’s unsupervised “Full Self-Driving” will be “widespread in the US by the end of this year” during a virtual appearance at the Smart Mobility Summit in Tel Aviv today. Tesla currently operates fewer than 30 unsupervised robot…

XPeng (XPEV) rolls first mass-produced robotaxi off the line, a China first
XPeng (XPEV) rolls first mass-produced robotaxi off the line, a China first

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) announced today that it has rolled the first mass-produced unit of its robotaxi off the production line in Guangzhou. The milestone makes XPeng the first automaker in China to achieve mass production of a robotaxi built entirely thro…