Waabi raises $750m to expand into robotaxi market
Waabi has raised $750m in a Series C and has received a $250m commitment from Uber to deploy robotaxis exclusively; the Toronto startup has signalled a strategic expansion from autonomous trucks into light‑duty passenger services.
Waabi raises $750m Series C, secures $1bn funding
Toronto-based Waabi has closed a $750m Series C and secured milestone funding from Uber, bringing available capital to $1bn. The investment has been earmarked to advance its Physical AI Platform and support expansion from trucking into robotaxis.
Gatik begins fully driverless commercial trucking operations
Gatik has deployed fully driverless trucks in commercial operations at scale, has completed 60,000 driverless orders and has secured over $600 million in contracted revenue, operating across multiple US states with partners including Isuzu, NVIDIA and Ryder.
Cyngn receives notice of allowance for 24th US patent
Cyngn received a notice of allowance for its 24th US patent, strengthening its autonomous vehicle IP portfolio and supporting commercial deployment of DriveMod in industrial logistics, manufacturing and material handling.
STEER Tech and KINEXON partner on industrial AV systems
STEER Tech and KINEXON will integrate RTLS with autonomy and fleet software to improve indoor localisation, fleet coordination, safety and scalability for industrial autonomous vehicles and robots.
Aurora, McLeod launch TMS link for driverless trucking
Aurora and McLeod have deployed an API-based TMS integration to enable carriers to tender, dispatch and track autonomous trucks within existing workflows; availability is immediate for eligible McLeod customers.
Nvidia expected to challenge Tesla's FSD in several years
Musk said Nvidia's Alpamayo models could pressure Tesla's Full Self‑Driving in five to six years, noting long‑tail safety challenges and delayed manufacturer adoption.
Product liability risks in autonomous trucking
Autonomous trucking advances outpace legal frameworks, raising product liability exposure for manufacturers, software providers and fleets and risking substantial financial awards and litigation uncertainty across supply chains.
Seeing Machines forms Future Mobility Group
Seeing Machines established a Future Mobility Group to support OEMs and autonomous-vehicle programmes by integrating driver and occupant monitoring systems for scaled commercial deployment across robotaxi, logistics and remote-operation platforms.
IIIT-A develops semantic communication for vehicles
IIIT-A develops semantic communication to reduce sensor data bandwidth for autonomous vehicles, with IIIT Gwalior and Jabalpur; funded by a ₹1.46 crore grant and applicable to traffic control and 6G.
Kodiak AI and Bosch to scale autonomous truck platform
Kodiak AI has partnered with Bosch to scale manufacturing and integration of a safety-redundant autonomous truck platform, targeting commercial upfitter and factory installations and driverless highway operations by H2 2026.
Autonomous Trucking, EV Charging and Logistics News
Multiple developments across autonomous trucking, EV charging, logistics and fleet operations, including financing, partnerships, regulatory updates and infrastructure deployments affecting commercial transport and supply‑chain efficiency.
CiDi expands autonomous commercial deployments; Hong Kong IPO
CiDi is scaling autonomous vehicle deployments in closed environments, delivered 414 trucks with 647 indicative orders, pursuing international expansion and commenced Hong Kong IPO on 11 December 2025.
California advances draft rules for driverless heavy trucks
California's DMV advanced draft regulations propose phased permits for driverless heavy trucks, requiring 500,000 driverless and 1,000,000 cumulative miles before commercial deployment; testing permits may arrive by late 2026.
Trucking technology industry developments and partnerships
Compilation of recent trucking-technology developments: partnerships, funding, product launches, autonomous and electric vehicle deployments, infrastructure projects, regulatory issues and commercial milestones affecting fleet operators and suppliers.
Mercedes-Benz acquires 3% stake in Geely-backed Qianli
Mercedes-Benz acquired a 3% stake in Geely-backed Qianli after integrating its autonomous-driving business; Qianli will consolidate technology and management to pursue model‑centric systems, with no deployment timelines disclosed.
Tier IV to lead NEDO-backed autonomous driving dataset
Tier IV, supported by NEDO, will assemble large-scale real and synthetic multimodal sensor datasets and an AI data platform to support autonomous vehicle development and validation in Japan.
Uber and Lyft to trial Baidu robotaxis in London
Uber and Lyft will trial Baidu’s Apollo Go RT6 robotaxis in London in 2026, pending regulatory approval; pilots aim to gather safety and performance data under Automated Vehicles Act 2024.
Waymo halts San Francisco robotaxi service after blackout
Waymo suspended driverless ride-hail operations in San Francisco after a widespread power outage; city services responded and restoration continued while Tesla said its supervised service was unaffected.
dSPACE integrates OMNIVISION camera models into AURELION
dSPACE and OMNIVISION will integrate sensor models into AURELION to enable virtual testing of camera-based ADAS and autonomous driving perception, aiming to reduce physical testing and accelerate development.
Robotaxi market expansion and company rollouts, 2025
Waymo expanded robotaxi operations across multiple US and international markets in 2025, while Zoox, Tesla and Chinese firms increased pilot services amid regulatory, safety and commercial challenges.
NEC deploys vehicle management system at Haneda Airport
NEC has deployed a Vehicle Management Equipment system at Haneda Airport to support Level 4 autonomous ground vehicles, integrating signal controls and cameras for restricted-area operations.
Tesla confirms driverless Robotaxi tests in Austin
Tesla reported driverless Robotaxi tests are under way in Austin; the company previously operated limited services with safety supervisors. Shares rose 3.6% to $475.31.
NHTSA modernises safety standards for automated vehicles
NHTSA published final research on adapting 81 FMVSS to accommodate automated driving systems, soliciting public comment to inform rulemaking and facilitate safe deployment of ADS-equipped vehicles.
Helm.ai achieves vision-only zero-shot steering
Helm.ai reports a Factored Embodied AI framework enabling vision-only zero-shot steering in urban environments after 1,000 hours of real driving data, using semantic simulation and geometric world representations.
QCraft targets Saudi Arabia for autonomous driving
QCraft plans pilots and investments in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East, offering Level 2-4 autonomous systems and commercial shuttles aligned with regional transport and logistics initiatives.
Rivian unveils autonomy hardware, AI models
Rivian unveiled in-house chips, lidar-enabled autonomy computers and AI models, and announced an Autonomy+ subscription priced at $2,500 or $49.99 monthly, targeting early 2026 availability.
Stellantis and Bolt to deploy Level 4 AVs across Europe
Stellantis will supply AV-Ready platforms to integrate with Bolt’s European ride-hailing network, with trials from 2026, initial production targeted for 2029 and regulatory alignment across EU markets.
Rivian highlights AI and autonomy amid sales slowdown
Rivian will host an Autonomy and AI Day to present in‑house software and autonomy plans as electric vehicle sales slow and investors seek future growth drivers.
Stellantis and Bolt to deploy Level-4 AVs in Europe
Stellantis and Bolt will introduce Level-4 autonomous vehicles across Europe, starting tests in 2026, scaling to production by 2029 and targeting up to 100,000 vehicles by 2035.
Autonomous vehicle collision in Zhuzhou injures two
An autonomous vehicle in Zhuzhou struck two pedestrians; both are in intensive care. Operator Hello is cooperating with authorities and local robotaxi services have been suspended pending investigation.
GM consolidates product and technology under Anderson
GM has centralised product, software, battery and manufacturing functions under Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson to unify vehicle development, while several senior technology executives have departed amid the restructuring.
NVIDIA releases Alpamayo-R1 open-source AI for autonomy
NVIDIA released Alpamayo-R1, an open-source vision-language-action AI suite to integrate perception, reasoning and planning for autonomous vehicles and provide simulation and data tools for testing.
Abu Dhabi launches fully driverless robotaxi service
WeRide and Uber began fully driverless robotaxi operations on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, on 26 November 2025 under a city-level commercial permit enabling driverless, app-bookable autonomous rides.
HORIBA MIRA and TIER IV to trial L4 autonomous buses
HORIBA MIRA will provide UK test facilities and safety expertise; TIER IV supplies an open-source stack and L4 electric minibuses to validate autonomous bus operations in Europe.
LEO Satellite Constellations and Transport Connectivity
Expansion of LEO satellite constellations promises global mobility connectivity, enabling tolling, navigation and autonomous services while increasing GNSS resilience and hybrid satellite-terrestrial redundancy requirements.
Bolt and Pony.ai to pilot Level‑4 robotaxis in Europe
Bolt will integrate Pony.ai’s Level‑4 autonomous platform to conduct safety validation and user‑experience testing in select European cities, pending regulatory approvals and staged deployments.
Xiaomi releases open-source MiMo‑Embodied model
Xiaomi released MiMo‑Embodied, an open-source vision‑language foundation model for autonomous driving and embodied robotics, available on Hugging Face and GitHub to support cross‑domain developer integration.
QCraft and Chery partner on L4 autonomous logistics
QCraft and Chery will integrate QCraft’s Level 4 driving technology into Chery commercial vehicles to develop autonomous logistics solutions for short-distance deliveries and commercialise them at scale.
Chinese robotaxi firms expand internationally as sector scales
Chinese robotaxi companies are accelerating overseas expansion as Baidu reports driverless, staff‑free rides and per‑vehicle profitability in Wuhan; scale, partnerships and regulatory approvals will affect global commercialisation.
Tesla granted permit to operate ride-hail in Arizona
Arizona granted Tesla a transportation‑network permit; additional licences remain required before commercial robotaxi operations. Company seeks deployment by 2026 amid established competition in the autonomous ride‑hail sector.
Abu Dhabi launches Level 4 commercial robotaxi service
Abu Dhabi has authorised commercial Level 4 driverless robotaxi operations, permitting two operators to offer public rides following regulatory approval and safety validation.
Abu Dhabi starts commercial Level 4 robotaxi services
Abu Dhabi has authorised commercial Level 4 autonomous taxi services, issuing permits to two operators after safety assessments, with digital oversight and regulatory alignment.
Baidu Apollo Go robotaxi: 17m rides, global expansion
Apollo Go has completed over 17 million driverless rides, operates in 22 cities, reports 250,000 weekly fully driverless orders and projects profitability by 2025 amid vehicle cost reductions.
Kodiak AI expands ZF partnership for redundant steering
Kodiak AI will purchase 100 redundant ZF steering systems to integrate fail-safe actuators into its driverless trucks, supporting operational safety, production capacity and commercialisation of autonomous long-haul vehicles.
International, PlusAI and NVIDIA advance Level 4 trucks
International, PlusAI and NVIDIA will co-develop factory-built Level 4 autonomous trucks using PlusAI’s SuperDrive and NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor, after Texas fleet trials and targeting commercialisation by 2027.
