This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s first ever debt raise, the latest The Road to Autonomy Field Reports and the emergence of London as an autonomy capital.
Grayson views the debt raise as a clear signal of aggressive expansion, while Walt sees securing access to capital markets as a crucial strategic advantage as competition heats up. As Waymo continues to expand, the company launched fully autonomous operations in Detroit, with both Grayson and Walt agreeing that commercial service will commence before the end of the year.
In Las Vegas, Zoox continues to deploy the Zoox way. Special Field Correspondent David Moss headed to Las Vegas to try out Zoox’s new drop-off location at the T-Mobile Arena. The ride from Resorts World cost $42.26 and took 28 minutes, including extra loops around the Excalibur parking lot compared to $18.68 for a Waymo Ojai ride.
Across the Atlantic, London is emerging as a premier autonomy capital, with the guessing game heating up over whether Uber or its autonomous driving partners will secure the Automated Passenger Services (APS) permit. As Uber and its partners debate who gets the permit, Waymo is ramping up operations, preparing for what Grayson predicts will be a launch in London.
On the Foreign Autonomy Desk, XPeng formally named its new robotaxi service YoYo, while Stellantis selected Momenta to power autonomous capabilities for its Peugeot and Jeep brands in mainland China.
Episode Chapters
0:00 Atoms and Zoox Field Reports
05:15 Autonomy Roulette on Uber in Las Vegas
08:20 Waymo Raises $5 Billion in Debt
12:20 Waymo Launches Unsupervised Testing in Detroit
14:53 Tesla Robotaxi 24/7 Timeline in Austin
18:33 Uber and Pony.ai Head to London
25:12 How Long Until Wayve Goes Unsupervised?
33:21 Minneapolis Mayor Vetoes Driver-In Mandate as California Mandates U.S. Remote Operations
37:30 Autonomous Trucking, Cleared for Take-Off
42:36 Foreign Autonomy Desk
44:34 Next Week
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