Transportation & Auto News | TechCrunch

Self-driving truck startup Aurora Innovation to sell up to $420M in shares ahead of commercial launch

Rebecca Bellan — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 14:32:00 +0000

Self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation is looking to raise hundreds of millions in additional capital as it races toward a driverless commercial launch by the end of 2024. Aurora is pursuing a driver-as-a-service model, wherein carriers purchase trucks with the Aurora Driver tech on board and then offer their services via those trucks to shippers. […]

Anthony Levandowski bets on off-road autonomy, Nuro plots a comeback and Applied Intuition gets more investor love

Kirsten Korosec — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 15:05:00 +0000

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Summer road trip season is upon us, so when Google announced some updates to Google Maps, we got excited. Surely this would include a feature that allows […]

VC darling Rad Power Bikes hit with another round of layoffs

Rebecca Bellan — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 14:59:11 +0000

Rad Power Bikes, the Seattle-based e-bike startup that has raised more than $300 million from investors, went through another round of layoffs in July, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. This is the company’s fifth round since April 2021, when it cut back 100 staffers. Rad’s latest layoffs follow a culling a year ago, when the e-bike […]

Why Anthony Levandowski returned to his off-road autonomous vehicle roots with AV startup Pronto

Kirsten Korosec — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 14:45:00 +0000

Five years ago, as robotaxis and self-driving truck startups were still raking in millions in venture capital, Anthony Levandowski turned to off-road autonomy. Now, that decision — which brought the former Google engineer and serial entrepreneur back to the roots that helped launch his pioneering and controversial career — is starting to pay off. Pronto, […]

Indian startups gut valuations ahead of IPO push

Manish Singh — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 12:36:14 +0000

Ola Electric and FirstCry are set to test investor appetite with public listing, both pricing their shares below their previous valuation asks.

Google Maps announces new features and somehow none of them are ‘pause navigation’

Sean O'Kane — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 21:52:04 +0000

Look, we’ve all been there. You’re on a road trip and you pull off the highway for some food or fuel. And then Google Maps starts (rudely) yelling at you to get back on the road. The company has all the money and AI chips in the world and yet the app can’t just chill […]

Sennder buys CH Robinson’s European business

Ingrid Lunden — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:14:28 +0000

Sennder is acquiring the European ground transportation assets of logistics giant C.H. Robinson.

Lime is piloting two new e-bikes to attract more women and older riders

Rebecca Bellan — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Shared micromobility giant Lime is piloting two new vehicles designed to appeal to women and older folks who might appreciate a lower step-through frame, smaller wheels and an upgrade from pedal-assist. Lime has experimented with several new form factors over the years in a bid to capture customers and adapt to changing tastes and trends. […]

The fall of EV startup Fisker: A comprehensive timeline

Henry Pickavet — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 23:00:00 +0000

Here is a timeline of the events that led fledgling automaker Fisker to file for bankruptcy.

The question haunting Fisker’s bankruptcy

Sean O'Kane — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 21:51:41 +0000

As failed EV startup Fisker winds its way through bankruptcy, a persistent and tricky question has become a flashpoint of the proceedings: does its only secured lender, Heights Capital Management, deserve to be at the front of the line to reap the proceeds of a liquidation? Heights has maintained an unequivocal “yes.” But new information […]

Uber now lets users in India book three trips at once

Jagmeet Singh — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 18:09:35 +0000

Uber is now letting riders in India book up to three rides simultaneously.

How to opt out of facial recognition at airports (if you’re American)

Zack Whittaker — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 17:30:00 +0000

U.S. airports are rolling out facial recognition to scan travelers' faces before boarding their flights. Americans, at least, can opt out.

India’s Rapido becomes a unicorn with fresh $120M funding

Manish Singh — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 14:21:47 +0000

Bike-taxi startup Rapido, which counts Swiggy among its investors, is the latest Indian firm to become a unicorn.

US border agents must get warrant before cell phone searches, federal court rules

Zack Whittaker — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 11:00:49 +0000

Critics have long argued that wararantless device searches at the U.S. border are unconstitutional and violate the Fourth Amendment.

UK’s Zapp EV plans to expand globally with an early start in India

Jagmeet Singh — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Zapp is launching its urban electric two-wheeler in India in 2025 as it plans to expand globally.

Autonomous delivery startup Nuro is gearing up for a comeback

Rebecca Bellan — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 18:52:49 +0000

The California Department of Motor Vehicles this week granted Nuro approval to test its third-generation R3 autonomous delivery vehicle in four Bay Area cities, giving the AV startup a positive boost after facing some setbacks and financial struggles. The approval gives Nuro the ability to test its driverless delivery vehicle in Mountain View, Palo Alto, […]

Applied Intuition closes $300M secondary four months after raising $250M

Sean O'Kane — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 19:16:24 +0000

Autonomous vehicle software startup Applied Intuition has closed a $300 million secondary sale just four months after raising a $250 million Series E round, yet another sign of how white-hot the investment scene is for artificial intelligence companies. The secondary round adds Fidelity Management & Research Company to an already-stacked lineup of investors in the […]

Uber, Lyft, DoorDash can continue to classify drivers as contractors in California

Rebecca Bellan — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 18:15:00 +0000

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Proposition 22 — the ballot measure that passed in November 2020 and classified app-based gig workers as independent contractors rather than employees — is here to stay. The decision is a win for app-based companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart, which have fought hard to maintain their […]

Alphabet pours $5B into Waymo, Cruise scraps the Origin and Elon’s bet on autonomy

Kirsten Korosec — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 17:05:00 +0000

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! I don’t know about you, but for me, the past few days have offered up even more evidence that our world is vulnerable to software bugs. Yep, […]

Kodiak Robotics is taking self-driving trucks off-road to reach profitability faster

Rebecca Bellan — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 12:19:51 +0000

Don Burnette, CEO and co-founder of self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics, had an “aha” moment when the company started working with the U.S. Department of Defense. Kodiak’s mission has always been to pursue long-haul autonomous trucking, but two years ago, the startup won a $50 million contract from the DoD to help the Army automate […]