Author: Maya Rios

Autonomous trucking technology company Pronto.ai has launched two new autonomous haulage system (AHS) editions, expanding its product lineup to cover operations ranging from small quarries to ultra-class deep-pit mining sites, the company said. The newly introduced Pronto AHS VLR and Pronto AHS VLR 360 systems add lidar and radar to Pronto’s existing vision-only autonomy platform, creating what the company describes as the industry’s first tiered autonomy architecture. The three systems are now offered under a unified portfolio branded as Pronto Editions. The launch follows a recent operational milestone at a quarry operated by Heidelberg Materials in Lake Bridgeport, Texas, where…

Waymo said it plans to expand its autonomous ride-hailing operations to Sacramento, California, and Boston, Massachusetts, as the company continues to scale its robotaxi network across the United States. The company confirmed the plans this week, saying it would begin laying the groundwork for future autonomous services in both cities. Waymo already operates fully driverless robotaxi services in several major U.S. markets, including Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Miami and Atlanta. It said it has completed more than 20 million fully autonomous rides to date and is currently providing about 400,000 driverless trips each week. See also: Waymo Secures…

Waymo, the autonomous driving company majority-owned by Alphabet, has completed a long-planned funding round, securing $16 billion in new commitments to accelerate the expansion of its robotaxi services, the company said. The fresh capital was raised from a group of existing and new investors, led by venture capital firms Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group and DST Global, with Alphabet continuing what Waymo described as its “strong and continuous support as majority shareholder.” Including earlier rounds, Waymo has now raised about $27 billion in total funding since it was spun out of Google’s self-driving car project. See also: Waymo Opens San…

Waymo is close to finalising a $16 billion funding round that would value the autonomous vehicle company at about $110 billion, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. More than three-quarters of the capital is expected to come from Alphabet, Waymo’s parent company, according to the report. Waymo was originally incubated within Alphabet’s X “moonshot” division before being spun out as a standalone unit. See also: Waymo Said to Seek New Funding at Valuation of Around $100 Billion The round is set to include new investors Dragoneer, Sequoia Capital and DST Global, the FT said. Existing backers…

Tesla is planning to expand its Robotaxi network by adding Orlando and Tampa in Florida as part of a broader U.S. rollout scheduled for 2026, the company said, extending its autonomous ride-hailing ambitions beyond its current limited operations. The two Florida cities will join Miami as future Robotaxi markets, Tesla confirmed, alongside Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas and Houston. All of the locations were first outlined in November last year and are now targeted for launch in the first half of 2026, according to the company. See also: Tesla Expands Robotaxi App Access Globally Amid U.S. Service Expansion At present, Tesla’s…

San Francisco police are investigating a crash involving a self-driving vehicle operated by Zoox, after the robotaxi struck the driver’s-side door of a parked car in the city’s Mission District last month, according to authorities and company statements. The San Francisco Police Department said officers responded to the collision at around 2 p.m. local time on Jan. 17 near the intersection of 15th and Mission Streets. The Zoox vehicle was travelling along 15th Street when a street ambassador, identified by local outlet Mission Local as Jamel Durden, opened the driver’s-side door of his parked 1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille into the…

Chinese autonomous driving company WeRide has launched GENESIS, a simulation platform designed to accelerate the training, testing and validation of autonomous vehicles by recreating real-world driving scenarios in virtual environments within minutes. The platform, known as WeRide GENESIS, combines physical AI with generative AI to simulate complex urban settings and rare driving events that are difficult, costly or impractical to capture through real-world road testing. The company said the system is intended to support autonomous driving development from Level 2++ advanced driver-assistance systems to Level 4 robotaxi operations on a single global platform. See also: WeRide Launches Commercial Autonomous Shuttle…

Autonomous vehicle startup Waabi has raised $1 billion in new funding and struck a partnership with Uber to deploy self-driving cars on Uber’s platform, marking Waabi’s first move beyond autonomous trucking. The financing includes an oversubscribed $750 million Series C round co-led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners, along with roughly $250 million in milestone-based capital from Uber. The Uber-backed funding is intended to support the deployment of 25,000 or more robotaxis powered by Waabi’s “Waabi Driver” technology exclusively on Uber’s platform. The companies did not disclose a timeline for reaching that scale. See also: Waabi and Volvo Unveil…

Uber said it has launched AV Labs, a dedicated team designed to accelerate autonomous vehicle development by leveraging data collected from its global ride-hailing network. The initiative focuses on what Uber describes as a central bottleneck in autonomous driving: access to large volumes of diverse, real-world driving data. By analysing trips taken across its platform, the company aims to help autonomous vehicle developers capture rare and complex driving scenarios that are difficult and expensive to generate through traditional testing or simulation alone. See also: Baidu to Test Robotaxis in London With Uber and Lyft in 2026 Danny Guo, Uber’s vice…

Holon, a subsidiary of German automotive supplier Benteler, has expanded its leadership team as it prepares to commercialise its autonomous electric shuttle, the company said. The company appointed Martin Lischka and Jonas Seyfferth to senior roles aimed at supporting market entry and international growth. Lischka will oversee customer-focused sales activities and brand positioning in key regions including Europe, the United States and the Gulf states, while Seyfferth will focus on strategic development and organisational alignment. See also: Holon Adopts PTC Cloud PLM to Speed Development of Level-4 Autonomous EV Holon first presented its autonomous shuttle three years ago at the…

Autonomous trucking company Gatik said on Tuesday it has become the first company in North America to operate fully driverless trucks at commercial scale, marking a shift from pilot projects to sustained, revenue-generating freight operations. The Mountain View, California-based firm said its medium-duty trucks are now operating without a human driver or safety observer, completing daily deliveries for Fortune 50 retailers across Texas, Arkansas and Arizona. The vehicles are equipped with the company’s proprietary Gatik Driver autonomous system. See also: Gatik, Loblaw to Deploy 50 Autonomous Trucks in Greater Toronto Area “Autonomous trucking is no longer a promise. It’s a…

TRATON GROUP has agreed to commit up to $25 million in non-dilutive research and development funding to autonomous driving company PlusAI, expanding a partnership aimed at accelerating the commercialization of factory-built autonomous trucks in the United States and Europe. The expanded collaboration builds on a 2024 agreement under which PlusAI’s SuperDrive system was selected as the on-highway autonomous driving platform for TRATON brands including Scania, MAN and International. TRATON said the additional funding will support deeper integration of SuperDrive across its truck platforms, safety validation and commercialization programmes in key freight markets. See also: PlusAI Partners With Japan’s T2 to…

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into Waymo after the company’s robotaxis were recorded illegally passing stopped school buses in multiple incidents across at least two states. The safety board said on Friday it is focusing on more than 20 incidents in Austin, Texas, where automated vehicles failed to stop while students were boarding or exiting school buses. Investigators will travel to Austin to collect information, with a preliminary report expected within 30 days and a final report to follow in 12 to 24 months. See also: Waymo Opens Public Robotaxi Service in Miami With 60-Square-Mile…

U.S.-based autonomous drone delivery company Zipline said on Wednesday it will launch operations in Houston and Phoenix early this year, marking the next phase of its U.S. expansion following a $600 million funding round that values the company at $7.6 billion. The company said the new capital will support expansion into at least four U.S. states in 2026. Investors participating in the round included Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Valor Equity Partners and Tiger Global, alongside existing backers. Founded in 2014, Zipline has developed an end-to-end drone logistics ecosystem, including proprietary aircraft, launch and landing infrastructure, and logistics…

Waymo has launched its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the public in Miami, marking the company’s latest expansion as it scales commercial robotaxi operations in major U.S. cities. The service, which began on Jan. 22, covers an initial operating area of about 60 square miles spanning several of Miami’s most prominent neighborhoods, including the Design District, Wynwood, Brickell and Coral Gables. Waymo said nearly 10,000 residents have already joined the waitlist, with riders to be invited in phases as the fleet and service capacity expand. Waymo said it plans to extend coverage to Miami International Airport, although no timeline has…

John Krafcik, the former chief executive of Waymo, has intensified his criticism of Tesla’s self-driving strategy, arguing that the automaker’s reliance on cameras alone leaves its vehicles at a fundamental disadvantage compared with rivals that use multiple sensing technologies. Speaking in comments reported by Automotive News from the CES 2026 technology show, Krafcik said Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system suffers from inherent limitations because it lacks redundancy from sensors such as LiDAR and radar. John Krafcik, a longtime figure in the autonomous driving industry, said Tesla’s hardware configuration constrains what its artificial intelligence can reliably perceive. See also: Waymo Renames…

Forterra has selected Aeva Technologies to supply 4D LiDAR sensors for its AutoDrive autonomous vehicle platform, expanding the use of advanced perception technology in military ground systems operating in contested and GPS-denied environments. Under the agreement, Aeva’s 4D LiDAR will be integrated into Forterra’s AutoDrive perception suite, which is designed to support autonomous operation of ground vehicles across missions such as tactical logistics, convoy operations, combat support and forward reconnaissance. The companies said the technology is intended to improve situational awareness while reducing exposure of personnel in hazardous environments. Aeva’s sensors provide simultaneous position and velocity detection at ranges of…

McLeod Software has completed an application programming interface (API) integration with Aurora Innovation, allowing carriers to book and manage autonomous truck capacity directly within McLeod’s Transportation Management System (TMS). The integration, delivered ahead of schedule, enables McLeod customers running version 21.1 or newer to tender autonomous loads powered by Aurora Driver without leaving their existing workflows. The companies said the accelerated timeline reflected growing customer interest in accessing driverless trucking capacity as part of day-to-day operations. The embedded functionality provides dispatchers with real-time vehicle location tracking and automated status updates from Aurora Driver-equipped trucks, giving carriers continuous visibility throughout pickup…

RoboSense said its robotics-focused business delivered a breakout performance in 2025, with LiDAR shipments for robot applications reaching 303,000 units, underscoring rapid market expansion and the company’s growing position in robot perception technologies. In a statement released on Jan. 13, RoboSense said shipments in the segment rose 1,141.8% year on year, allowing the company to retain its leading market position. The company attributed the growth to rising adoption of LiDAR across a broad range of robotic applications and increased deployment of its latest solid-state and safety-focused products. See also: RoboSense Secures Near One Million-Unit LiDAR Order From Dongfeng Nissan To…

STEER Tech and Germany-based KINEXON have formed a strategic partnership to integrate autonomous navigation software with real-time location systems, aiming to improve precision, safety and coordination for industrial autonomous vehicles. The collaboration combines STEER Tech’s autonomy stack and fleet management platform with KINEXON’s real-time location and sensor technologies. The integrated solution is designed for use in depots, warehouses, factories and logistics centres, supporting autonomous vehicles (AVs), automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). See also: Kubota Debuts Autonomous M5 Narrow Tractor for Vineyard and Orchard Use The companies said the combined system is already operational at several sites…