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I’m back from vacation. What did I miss? It turns out, quite a lot – including until the end Uber-Waymo partnership in Phoenix. Uber and Waymo still have a partnership for robotaxi services in Atlanta and Austin. That is not the question whenbut when will these agreements expire? But this, in my opinion, is not the most interesting question. I’m much more intrigued to see how these two companies will fare after the rest of the partnership is over.
There is already tension with Uber executives taking not-so-subtle shots at Waymo. I expect that when the partnership ends, these thinly veiled barbs will be replaced by more direct action. One of the battles will be politics, particularly the markets where robotaxi companies are trying to gain access.
This week we saw another interesting development in the autonomous vehicle industry in the federal arena. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration administrator Jonathan Morrison issued a directive to developers of autonomous vehicles, saying it is unacceptable for their vehicles to interfere with first responders or law enforcement.
Money quote: “Let me be clear: the failure to detect and respond appropriately to these situations constitutes a functional failure. Emergency situations are not rare or extreme ‘borderline cases’. Therefore, NHTSA today is issuing a call to action for AV developers and operators to immediately focus their resources on addressing this problem.”
Morrison’s letter never names any robotaxi company and was sent to all AV developers on the Department for Transport’s list Standing general order. But Morrison appears to be directing the agency’s ire at Waymo.
Previous TechCrunch investigation found that Waymo, which operates the largest fleet of robotaxis in the United States, with vehicles in cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco, has repeatedly run into first responders. And just this week, the head of San Francisco Bilal Mahmud said he was planning to submit a request letter to examine how autonomous vehicles have affected public transit and emergency services following the July 4th fireworks, which led to massive traffic jams. This is reported by local news publications had to tow numerous Waymo robotaxis after discharge during a long traffic jam.
Morrison’s letter is important. But will there be significant implications for AV developers? It’s hard to say at the moment. For now, NHTSA has required the companies to submit “solutions” to the agency by the end of the month.
Another news from the feds. Take a look at what’s new Regulatory Plan and the 2026 Single Agendawhich was updated last week. It contains a long list of proposed changes to the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), which govern vehicle design and equipment requirements. These proposed changes could help self-driving car companies Tesla and Zooxwhich develop vehicles without steering wheels, pedals or other features required for human-driven cars.
A little bird
Do you have a tip? Email Kirsten Korosets at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my signal at kkorosec.07 or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.
Deals!
We usually focus on venture deals, but this week I’d like to highlight Riviansky and the sale of 86.25 million shares of Class A common stock at $15.50 each (this includes an additional 11.25 million shares that the underwriters elected to purchase).
All in all, Rivian said it expects raise $1.32 billion in the new capital. The increase comes at a significant time for the electric car maker. The company started shipping its new R2 SUV last month and recently raised the sales forecast by 2026. The company said it now expects to deliver between 65,000 and 70,000 vehicles after beating its own expectations in the second quarter thanks to strong quarter-on-quarter growth in EDV and R1 compared to the introduction of R2 deliveries.
The company did not explain the reason for the increase. But remember, Rivian isn’t profitable yet, and ramping up production of the R2 — or any vehicle for that matter — doesn’t come cheap!
Other suggestions that caught my eye…
Bidbusa Los Angeles startup that created a digital marketplace where multiple dealers can bid on a car, raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Ibex Investors. Mucker Capital, FJ Labs, Motley Fool Ventures, Data Point Capital, Walter Ventures and Yossi Levy of Car Dealership Guy also participated.
Elevator said he was planning to to acquire Serveo is a bike sharing company in Spain. Terms were not disclosed, but the ride-hailing company said it plans to close this year.
Tysonbritish battery launch, raised £4.65 million in a seed funding round co-led by Eos Advisory and Midlands Engine Investment Fund II. Also participating were InnoEnergy, AFI Ventures, EverQuest Capital Partners, Exergon, Heartfelt Ventures, Adeline Arts & Science, Techmind, angel investor François Badelon and matching funding from Innovate UK.
Worth reading and other delightful tidbits
AssuranceAmericaAmerican insurance provider, confirmed a data breach that affected the personal information and driver’s license numbers of 6.9 million people, making it the largest known leak of Americans’ driver’s license information this year.
Beta technologieselectric car takeoff and landing developer, complete operational flights is being conducted as part of the new eVTOL integration pilot program of the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration. The flights covered about 275 nautical miles, covering Virginia and Maryland.
Long time followers Tesla will remember the heady days when Elon Musk struggled with various short sellers of the company’s stock. Musk is more polarizing than ever, and one exchange-traded fund creator has found a way to capitalize on that negative sentiment with two new exchange-traded funds v. Elon.
GM the Chevrolet brand has built an all-American EV truck. Senior reporter Tim De Chant asks: Why no one buys?
Manna Aeroan Irish autonomous drone delivery startup scaling up in the United States with a plant and operations center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which it says will employ 1,000 people in the next few years.
Slate Auto united with Crayola to offer its customers electric cars and SUVs to dress up cars five colors of pencil. (Note: The base Slate EV isn’t painted. Instead, it’s a gray composite material that can be customized with a car wrap. The company has hundreds of options to choose from.)
One more thing…
The TechCrunch Podcast Build mode just launched its third season and it’s cool. The build mode is led by Isabelle Johannesen, who leads TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield program. Unlike Equity—the TC podcast I host with Anthony Ha and Sean O’Kane—the build mode is designed to help early-stage founders.
The new season starts with Precursor Ventures founder and managing partner Charles Hudsonwhich talks about what early-stage founders need to know before launching their first institutional round.
Check it out: New rules for early fundraising with Charles Hudson.
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