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On a median day in San Francisco, you may see dozens (a whole lot?) of Waymo robotaxis zipping across the metropolis — and with little disruption. However, as TechCrunch has reported, there have been quite a few incidents of robotaxis impeding visitors, driving into crime scenes, and interfering with first responders. And never simply within the Bay Space. In some circumstances, firms have relied on first responders to maneuver their robotaxis.
These disruptions are occurring within the early levels of the robotaxi period. California has a new law hoping to get forward of the issue earlier than the subsequent impending wave of robotaxis land.
Senate Invoice 1246, which was signed into regulation by Governor Gavin Newsom this week, units a collection of latest guidelines for AVs designed to enhance security and response occasions once they turn out to be disabled or intervene with emergency responders. The regulation additionally creates methods to carry these firms accountable in the event that they don’t.
Autonomous car know-how firms like Tesla, Waymo, and Zoox must present first responders with native, on-the-ground help when their robotaxis trigger issues and will additionally face penalties if a robotaxi blocks police or firefighters for greater than half-hour.
The regulation additionally says AV builders can solely make use of distant drivers who’re based mostly in the USA and people drivers should maintain a U.S. driver’s license. They have to additionally notify cities, cities, and different native jurisdictions concerning the location and standing of automobiles throughout system-wide failures and should present “native incident technicians” who can help with AV accidents and obstructions.
There are nonetheless some particulars to hammer out, which the Division of Motor Autos will deal with because it’s the principle regulator of autonomous automobiles within the state. However when this regulation goes into impact in July 2028, will it truly preserve robotaxis out of the best way of emergency responders?
It probably received’t, however hopefully this regulation reduces the chaos and raises the accountability when one thing does occur.
Maybe the higher query is will different states observe California’s lead or await the federal authorities to weigh in?
Offers!
Harbinger, the EV startup, landed a $300 million deal to provide FedEx with 2,000 of its electrical vans.
HyperGuest, an Israeli journey tech startup, raised $25 million from AMI, the funding arm of Apax Companions.
REGENT Craft, the developer and producer of the all-electric Seaglider, extended its collaboration with the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, pushing the whole worth of the contract to $19.25 million.
Quartermaster, an Arlington, Virginia-based maritime intelligence startup, raised $140 million in a Collection B spherical. About $100 million got here from Perception Companions, defense-focused agency Overmatch Ventures, and First Spherical Capital. The remaining $40 million got here within the type of a debt facility from funding financial institution Stifel.
Voltaback, a French fleet administration software program startup, raised €2.8 million from European funding fund Serena.
Notable reads and different tidbits
When Aurora introduced it will have 30,000 autonomous vans on the highway by the tip of 2030, I admit that I raised at the least certainly one of my eyebrows. I interviewed CFO David Maday to search out out precisely how the company plans to accomplish this and why he’s assured it is going to succeed.
BMW unveiled its new 2027 3 Collection and it’s providing primarily the identical automotive for gasoline and electrical. Guess which one is cheaper?
DoorDash shared extra about its new drone delivery business DoorDash Air, together with the autonomous plane and its ground-based methods method.
Kodiak has landed Ikea as a customer and can start driverless deliveries on public highways later this yr. The vans will haul Ikea merchandise with out anybody within the cab on a 219-mile stretch of Interstate 45 between Houston and Dallas, in accordance with the corporate.
Lyft agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the ride-hailing firm of violating California regulation by misclassifying drivers as unbiased contractors, as a substitute of staff. The settlement wraps up violations that occurred earlier than Prop 22 was authorised by voters, which permits firms like Uber and Lyft to categorise drivers as contractors.
Northeastern College examined 21 late-model automobiles from 17 automakers and 30 companion cell apps. The upshot: cars are collecting a trove of personal data and sharing it with a whole lot of tech firms, together with Adobe, Contentsquare, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Snap, and Yahoo.
SpaceX’s Starship rocket reached Earth orbit for the primary time, although not with out some drama alongside the best way.
Rivian reported a record-setting quarter of sales due to the brand new R2 SUV. And it’s nonetheless forecasting between 65,000 and 70,000 automobiles this yr. However it’s experiencing just a few hiccups with its latest EV. The corporate issued a recall for its R2 SUV over fasteners on its high-voltage battery pack that may not be correctly tightened, which may trigger a lack of energy whereas driving.
We’ll end this roundup with just a few notable Tesla information merchandise. The corporate offered greater than 480,000 EVs within the third quarter, the second sturdy quarter in a row for the corporate after a softer begin to the yr. The corporate has delayed its Roadster 2 event once more as a consequence of unhealthy climate.
And whereas Tesla’s conventional automotive enterprise could also be clicking alongside, it actually desires to be thought-about an AI and robotics firm. One yr in the past, Elon Musk laid out his fourth Grasp Plan, which he claims will ship “wonderful abundance” via robotaxis, robots, and AI. As Sean O’Kane noted in his recent piece, “What meaning, greater than a yr later, continues to be tough to pin down.”
It did simply pin down more cash to attempt. The corporate secured $30 billion in recent credit score traces that might be used to scale its future merchandise, together with the Optimus robotic and the Cybercab robotaxi.
Yet one more factor …
The countdown begins! Disrupt 2026, TechCrunch’s annual tech convention in San Francisco, is simply days away. I discussed this final week and I’m right here to share this once more. I’m providing you a 30% discount on tickets to Disrupt with code mobility30.
Why go? Properly, I’m interviewing Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe onstage October 13. I may even interview Mikell Taylor, director of robotics technique at GM; Protect AI CTO Nathan Michael; and Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun on a panel entitled “Building AI Systems When Failure Is Not an Option.” Sean O’Kane will interview Additionally CEO Chris Yu; Yuri Sagalov, managing director at Normal Catalyst; and Shan Shan, funding supervisor at Baillie Gifford in “How to Win When You’re Not Building AI.” Plus, hear from execs and engineers from Cerebras, Nvidia, OpenAI, and Replit to call just a few. Check out the full agenda here.
Talking of Disrupt, here’s a profile of MyMonthly Car, one of many Startup Battlefield 200 members that earned a spot to exhibit on the occasion.
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