Author: Maya Rios
Maya Rios reports on autonomous vehicle development, with an emphasis on data-driven validation, safety assurance, and real-world deployment. She closely follows partnerships between automakers, AI startups, and simulation platforms, analyzing their impact on urban mobility, logistics, and public transportation.
Li Auto has selected Arteris FlexNoC 5 technology for the development of its autonomous driving system-on-chip (SoC), supporting the automaker’s push toward centralized compute and AI-defined vehicle architectures. According to Arteris, the physical awareness capabilities of FlexNoC 5 enabled Li Auto to optimize its chip architecture at the 5 nanometer process node while integrating CPUs, GPUs, AI accelerators, sensor interfaces and functional safety systems into a single platform. The SoC is designed to support the high-performance computing demands associated with autonomous driving and advanced in-vehicle AI functions. https://twitter.com/arteris_noc/status/2056722819224911906 Luo Min, Head of Computing Unit at Li Auto, said the company…
Waymo Suspends Highway Robotaxi Service and Pauses Operations in Four US Cities After Weather-Related Incidents
Waymo has temporarily suspended some robotaxi operations in the United States following technical issues linked to severe weather and highway driving conditions. The company paused operations in four cities after reports that its autonomous vehicles struggled to navigate heavy rainfall and flooding conditions. According to media reports, a Waymo robotaxi became stranded in floodwater in Atlanta on Wednesday after driving into a flooded street. The vehicle reportedly remained stuck for about an hour before recovery crews removed it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOCqD8iRTYs Following the incident, Waymo suspended operations in Atlanta as a precautionary measure. The company also halted services in Texas cities including…
General Motors has named Valeo its Supplier of the Year in the advanced driver-assistance systems category for the fourth consecutive year, while also recognizing the company’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning operations in Brazil. The awards were announced from Valeo’s North American headquarters in Troy as part of General Motors’ annual supplier recognition program, which evaluates suppliers based on innovation, quality and operational scale across the automaker’s global supply chain. Valeo said the ADAS award recognizes its portfolio of driver-assistance technologies that combine cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors to create a 360-degree digital view of a vehicle’s surroundings. The company…
Stellantis and Wayve said they have entered a strategic technology partnership to integrate Wayve’s AI Driver automated driving system into Stellantis’ STLA AutoDrive platform. The companies said the collaboration is intended to support hands-free, supervised Level 2++ automated driving capabilities in both urban and highway environments. The agreement expands on Stellantis’ earlier strategic investment in Wayve and combines Wayve’s end-to-end artificial intelligence driving technology with Stellantis’ software platform, engineering operations and manufacturing capabilities. According to the companies, the first vehicle integration using the technology is planned for North America in 2028. The partnership’s initial focus will be on supervised hands-free,…
AEye and MoveAWheeL have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to explore integrating long-range lidar and road-surface friction sensing technologies for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving applications. The companies said the collaboration would combine AEye’s Apollo lidar sensor with MoveAWheeL’s acoustic-based road-surface friction sensing technology to improve vehicle awareness and performance in adverse weather conditions such as rain, snow and black ice. AEye, which is headquartered in Pleasanton and listed on Nasdaq under the ticker LIDR, said the planned work would focus on pairing long-range 3D perception with real-time friction-coefficient prediction. Apollo is a software-defined 1550-nanometer lidar sensor…
ECARX and May Mobility have signed a strategic framework agreement aimed at deploying up to thousands of autonomous vehicles, with initial rollout plans beginning next year and broader commercialization targeted for 2028. Under the agreement, ECARX is expected to become the exclusive technology provider for the project, supplying Level 4 autonomous computing platforms along with a full sensor suite for May Mobility’s next-generation autonomous ride-hailing fleet. The companies said they are jointly targeting a reduction of at least 50% in the total cost of a May Mobility autonomous vehicle by 2028. The overall project value is estimated at about $750…
Tesla said its Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised driver-assistance system is now available in several markets including China, marking the company’s first official announcement of the technology’s rollout in the world’s largest electric vehicle market. Tesla disclosed the update on Thursday through a post on social media platform X. The rollout comes about a week after U.S. President Donald Trump visited China accompanied by a delegation of American business executives that included Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk. https://twitter.com/Tesla/status/2057226337010745348 Earlier this week, Tesla China published multiple job openings related to autonomous driving development, including positions for autopilot test engineers and data labelers,…
Kodiak AI has begun autonomous freight operations for Roehl Transport on a Dallas-Houston route, marking another step in the commercialization of self-driving trucking technology in the United States. The Mountain View, California-based company said the service launched in April 2026 and currently operates four roundtrips per week using trucks equipped with the Kodiak Driver autonomous driving system. The partnership expands Kodiak AI’s commercial freight network across the southern United States, where the company already operates routes connecting Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, Atlanta and El Paso. Kodiak said its autonomous trucking operations also include deployments in West Texas’s Permian Basin, where…
Swedish freight technology company Einride and U.S. carrier EASE Logistics are preparing a pilot project involving autonomous electric trucks operating in the U.S. state of Ohio. The project will deploy two units of Einride’s autonomous battery-electric eBot truck between EASE Logistics facilities as part of real-world freight transport operations. The eBot, previously introduced by Einride as the Gen 2 Rigid Large platform in 2022, differs from conventional trucks by eliminating the driver’s cab entirely, allowing more space for cargo capacity. The vehicle uses a box-body configuration and is designed specifically for autonomous freight transport. Einride has not publicly disclosed detailed…
Nuro has received regulatory approval to begin testing autonomous vehicles with passengers on public roads in California, marking another milestone in its planned robotaxi partnership with Uber and Lucid. The approval allows Nuro to conduct test drives with passengers while a safety driver remains behind the wheel. The company also received separate approval to test vehicles on public roads without occupants, meaning no safety driver or passengers are required during those operations. The permits expand Nuro’s testing capabilities but stop short of authorising a fully commercial robotaxi service. Under current rules, the company is not yet permitted to operate fully…
Humble Robotics has introduced the Humble Hauler, an autonomous electric freight vehicle designed without a traditional driver’s cabin and aimed initially at container transport operations. The San Francisco-based startup is taking a different approach from established autonomous truck developers such as Sweden’s Einride by focusing on a flatbed container chassis rather than a box-body truck design. The Humble Hauler replaces the conventional cab with a narrow front section equipped with cameras and sensors, allowing more space for payload capacity. Humble Robotics said the vehicle was designed specifically for autonomous freight operations rather than adapted from an existing truck platform. “Trucks…
Norway is set to introduce Europe’s first autonomous public bus service operating without a safety driver on board, following regulatory approval for deployment in the city of Stavanger. The approval was granted by Statens Vegvesen to transport operator Vy Buss, allowing the company to place an autonomous electric bus into regular service within the Kolumbus network. See also: Bertrandt Tests BumbleB Autonomous Shuttle in Stuttgart Mobility Project The project has been under development since 2022 and uses the autonomous Karsan e-ATAK bus manufactured by Karsan and equipped with autonomous driving technology from Adastec. The vehicle operates with Level 4 autonomy,…