Timothy M.

Just downloaded Tesla Robotaxi in SF, a real threat to Uber, Lyft, and Grab? Most experts measure Robotaxi by today’s metrics: cost of operations, active users, global adaptability. By that logic, scaling looks impossible. But Tesla flips the script. Unlike Waymo’s costly retrofits, a Tesla only needs a software update to become a Robotaxi. With 1.7M+ Hardware 4.0 vehicles already on the road, the scale potential is unmatched. Cars shift from being liabilities to income-generating assets overnight. This isn’t just product innovation, it’s a redefinition of value. At ElasticDash we’re doing the same for QA. Today, QA costs are labor-driven, with humans building and maintaining tests. Our AI agents change that: they build and adapt end-to-end tests automatically as your app evolves. Just as Tesla is rewriting mobility economics, we’re rewriting QA economics. ElasticDash is on the way.

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Waymo just got the green light to start testing driverless cars in New York City—arguably one of the most complex urban environments out there. This move particularly interesting because NYC presents challenges unlike the warm-weather markets Waymo currently operates in, like Phoenix, Austin, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Here’s why this matters for investors and founders alike: • NYC’s density, unpredictable weather, and intricate street layout create a uniquely tough environment for autonomous vehicles. • Meeting New York’s rigorous safety requirements meant Waymo had to coordinate with first responders, submit comprehensive safety plans, and maintain ongoing communication with regulators. • If Waymo can succeed here, it sends a powerful signal that autonomous vehicles are ready for the hardest real-world urban settings—not just easier suburban areas. Ultimately, the companies that demonstrate reliability in cities like New York will lead the way in autonomous mobility. Waymo’s progress here offers important insights and partnership opportunities for anyone betting on the future of urban transportation. #nyc #innovation #technology #startups #vc #venturecapital

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Why we wrote this story: Robotaxies are a hot topic. GM agrees GM Repurposes Robotaxi Fleet to Test Tech It Plans for Your Car In an unexpected but strategic move, General Motors (GM) is repurposing its robotaxi fleet (formerly the Cruise Project) to test autonomous driving technology for personal vehicles. This decision comes after the automaker made the bold choice to discontinue its ambitious robotaxi project under the Cruise division, a venture that once promised to be the future of autonomous ride-hailing. The company is now focusing on evolving its advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) to work within the framework of everyday consumer vehicles. Read More: https://lnkd.in/evtPZHFP Subscribe to our newsletter! www.chargeduppro.com #ElectricTrucks #GreenTech #CleanTransportation #SustainableFleets #ChargingInfrastructure #ZeroEmissions #FutureOfTransport #EnvironmentalImpact #ClimateAction #RenewableEnergy #ElectricVehicleCharging #InfrastructureChallenges #CleanEnergyFuture #EVAdoption #GreenLogistics #TransportationNews #ClimateChangeSolutions #ChargingNetwork #FleetManagement #DrayageTrucks

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News just dropped that Waymo uses remote workers in the Philippines to assist autonomous vehicles. As a founder, this is your reminder: don’t panic over a competitor’s “breakthrough.” Things are often not what people make them out to be. Innovation is usually messier, and more human than the headlines suggest. Headlines sell narratives. Reality is more nuanced.

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Exclusive: Waymo has begun talking to Australian regulators about trialing its self-driving cars down under. This comes as the Google-linked "robotaxi" company tapped local lobbyists to represent it as Australia develops its autonomous vehicle road rules. https://lnkd.in/eJPQSRft

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Autonomous trucking startup Waabi raised $750 million in a series C round go-led by Khosla Ventures and G2, the company announced Wed. The funding will allow the Toronto-based startup to adapt its "Waabi Driver," or driverless systems, for use in light-duty passenger vehicles for robotaxi fleets. In addition to the $750 million -- the company has a $250 million, milestone-based commitment from their strategic partners, Uber, where CEO Raquel Urtasun previously worked as chief scientist in their "advanced technologies group." The $250 million will go towards the deployment of 25,000 driverless vehicles (that use Waabi's embodied AI systems) via the Uber platform. More info at CNBC - https://lnkd.in/e2HMGK-v #AVs #driverless #Uber #robotaxi

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I just experienced another version of the future. I rode in a Amazon ‘s Zoox robotaxi No driver. No steering wheel. No “front” or “back.” Just a fully autonomous vehicle designed around the passenger. What felt different? You do not sit like you are “going somewhere.” You sit like you are already there. It feels more like a moving lounge than a car. Why this matters For over 100 years, cars were built around humans driving. Zoox flips that. It removes the driver and redesigns everything around the experience. And this is not happening in isolation. - Tesla is pushing toward this with FSD and future cyber taxis - Waymo is already operating autonomous rides in real cities Different approaches. Same direction. Where AI changes everything This only works because of AI. * Real-time understanding of the world * Instant decision making * Learning at scale from massive data This is not automation. This is autonomy. What most people miss The biggest shift is not the car. It is control. The moment you stop thinking about who is driving, you realize the system is driving. My takeaway Transport is moving from human-controlled to AI-driven systems. And once that shift happens, everything changes. Design. Safety. Cities. Time itself. If you get a chance to try it, do it. Because this is not just a ride. This is what the next decade will feel like.

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At New Jersey Tech a team just created 5 new battery materials beyond the existing lithium variety. So for those outside the battery materials domain, manufacturers use Lithium ions, and there are concerns over scarcity, not because it’s a very rare material, but that it doesn’t occur concentrated in rocks and demand is going to make the price jump in future, so supply can become a problem. How did they do it? They combined a Crystal Diffusion Variational Autoencoder (CDVAE) with a Large Language Model. The former is given real crystal data, so the generated materials are realistic crystals but in different configurations. Very interesting how they used two AIs. They will need to check it further with quantum physics models but it looks promising. Why should you care? 5 novel materials that are realistic and potentially stable were produced in hours, not days. They obey the physical principles that govern materials and the device you are using to read this post is using a battery material. The implications are far reaching. As someone who has made novel materials I can tell you this is a big step forward. Time saved is a massive win but knowing what not to produce in the lab is also going to allow these engineers to go to market very fast, hopefully (this is a regulated industry after all, let’s keep our fingers crossed for them). Link to article is in the comments. #AI #battery #materials

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Slate Auto - check out their site directly (link in comment) rather than the press articles. It's actually surprisingly innovative: first time I'm felt this way about auto innovation since the Tesla Model S. ➡️ Modular makes sense with trucks/SUVs: there's so much space to play with, especially with EV packaging efficiency. Unlike, say, module smartphones like the ill-fated Google's Project Ara, where wasting even a small bit of space for the modular connectors compromised battery volume, etc. ➡️ Removable (I think?) plastic panels that're the same color throughout their thickness are great for (a) cheap manufacturing, (b) inherent dent resistance, (c) DIY vinyl wrap-ability. Does limit design though and design won't be for everyone, just like the Cybertruck (except that had no practical benefits except looking unique). Hope it performs well on crash tests Wish list: ➡️ Make battery modular too, so you can add more only when you need range: ideally rent the extra battery modules only for that annual road trip. Rest of the time, the vehicle stays cheaper, consumes less rare earth resources, and stays lighter. Lighter in turn has benefits for handling and less tire pollution ➡️ Make frame from aluminum so it essentially lasts forever. Though most consumers won't want that What do you think, would you buy something like this? Will such ideas spread in the industry?

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spoke with Shimon Rosen this week. he’s a product-led founder. not an engineer. but his speed today is on another level compared to even a year ago. he used to rely on tools like Balsamiq to get ideas out of his head. now he uses Base44 & Alloy . the difference? he can prototype in hours instead of weeks. not mockups. actual clickable products. screens you can click through. workflows that feel real. something you can put in front of users, investors, or engineers and say: this is the thing. then he hands it to developers and says: build this. but better. that shift in product development unlocks a few big advantages: 1. feedback gets real fast people react differently when they can actually use something. vague opinions turn into clear signals. 2. alignment with engineers improves massively everyone sees the same product. less guessing. fewer explanations. the conversation moves from what do you mean to how do we make it great. 3. momentum replaces perfection you stop waiting to be ready. you ship. you learn. you iterate. iv seen this too. i recently used Alloy to give feedback to Menachem Cowen, and it completely changed the conversation. instead of explaining ideas in words, i could show them. what worked. what didn’t. what to improve. curious to hear from product managers. what tools are you using to create mockups or prototypes before engineering gets involved?

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#Uber [UBER] is making a significant push into the #robotaxi market through a new #partnership. They're collaborating with #electricvehicle #manufacturer #Lucid [LCID], which will supply its #GravitySUVs, and #Nuro [NURO.PVT], a company specializing in #Level4 #autonomousdriving #technology. #SelfDrivingSoftware #SustainableTransportation #Sustainability #Robotaxis #ElectricVehicles #EVs #Automakers #FleetManagement #LasVegas #Nevada #StockPrice #Investment #RedundantZonalArchitecture #Innovation #Technology #Leadership #Waymo #Alphabet #AustinTX #Texas #AtlantaGA #Georgia #Tesla #ElonMusk #SanFranciscoBayArea #TempeAZ #Arizona #California #LucidAir #SaudiArabia #PublicInvestmentFund #PIF #Business #Video #YahooFinance https://lnkd.in/g7Z4-wtZ

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This might be one of the coolest examples I’ve seen so far of LoRAs for Flux Klein. An engineer at Black Forest Labs trained a LoRA for Flux Klein 9B that repairs 3D views generated with ml-sharp. The LoRA fixes geometry issues and restores missing details, all while preserving the structure of the scene. Hugging Face link: https://lnkd.in/eR9zQKv8

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Ride-hailing networks walked away from developing their own self-driving technology. But as Lyft's Jeremy Bird explains on this week's Shift podcast, they still have a prominent role to play in helping robotaxis proliferate. https://lnkd.in/ePqD7XMH

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A Waymo ride currently costs about one-third more than a typical ride-hailing trip. Yet Waymo has already surpassed 10% market share in San Francisco, competing directly with Uber and Lyft. This suggests a growing group of riders who are willing to give up the perceived safety of a human driver in exchange for the convenience of automation. https://lnkd.in/eAP_e_k7

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🌊 Marine robotics teams asked for better map context, so we just added OpenSeaMap overlays in the Map panel - including sea marks, bathymetry, and depth contours. Small UX choices matter here: independent layer toggles, ordering, and opacity controls make it much easier to debug behavior against real nautical context.

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BREAKING: Tesla will launch their fully autonomous robotaxi service on June 12th! This is the Americas first fully autonomous robotaxi service without any LiDAR (Waymo is already active but their cars have a LOT more hardware on them including the expensive LiDAR equipment). I have tried and love Waymo as it feels nice to be alone in a car without another persons music, talking ect. I don’t think people realize how huge this is. If this initial launch in Austin Texas goes well, the scaling will be very fast.

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Uber is making another bet on robotaxis, signing a six-year deal with Lucid and autonomous vehicle startup Nuro. As part of the deal, Lucid is getting a $300 million investment from Uber to deploy at least 20,000 robotaxis over the next six years. Nuro is also receiving an undisclosed multi-hundred-million-dollar investment. A launch is expected in a major U.S. city next year. This isn't Uber's first foray into autonomous cars. The ride-hailing company has partnered with Alphabet-backed Waymo. It expanded Waymo robotaxi service to Atlanta and Austin, Texas, earlier this year.

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