TechCrunch Mobility: Uber makes a bet on premium robotaxis

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If it is not clear before, it’s now. Uber He wants a large piece of independent vehicle technology pie. The riding company has spent the past two years in the lock in partnerships with almost every AV company that you can think about, and across each sector, including delivery, robotics and trucks.

However, I was not fully prepared for the amount of money invested in Uber in the latest link with EV Maker clear And the start starting Noro. Click here to read my article on the partnership agreement and Uber plans for the distinguished Robotaxi service.

We are here in the “Bird Little Bird” section because I learned something new, and I wanted to share it with subscribers first.

As a company publicly circulated, Lucid had to reveal that Uber had invested $ 300 million in the company. But Uber was not obliged to share what he invested in Noro, saying only that he was a person by one hundred million dollars. One of the direct knowledge sources told me that he was more than $ 300 million from Lucid. Since the publication of the article, I had Some small birds You fly to tell me that it was about 400 million dollars.

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Deals!

when And emo I closed the self -driving truck program, wondered where this talent would go. I (correctly) assumed that some might explode and start their own companies.

Last year, I heard that Boris SodmanWhich led the Waymo self -driving truck program, started an emerging company in the field of independent vehicle technology that focuses on the heavy equipment used in construction sites. I even wrote a little bloc on this topic in the “Little Bird” section. But I have never been able to verify how much it raised it completely and who was linked to it.

Now we know. Startup, invited Foundation80 million dollars of Eclipse and 8VC investors. Sofman participated in the founding of the foundation robots alongside old warriors Kevin Peterson and Ajay Gamala, as well as Tom Illiz, who was previously working in the clip and Twilio.

Other deals caught my attention this week …

Bouji, Ammonia-To-Power, which is based in Brooklyn, has raised its technology to charging, and raised another $ 23 million of financing, which reaches the latest donation to $ 80 million. The tour was led by Korea Development Bank, KDB Silley Valley LLC with the participation of Bonangels Venture Partners, JB Investment and Pathway Investment.

Gilly cars It will take its luxurious branch EV Zekr Especially through the integration agreement, after a little more than a year after the company appeared for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange.

NetworksThe UK mobile company, EV, has collected 100 million pounds (134 million dollars) of its current institutional investors, including TPG Rise Climate, InfaCAPITAL and Mitsubishi.

BontoSan Francisco -based startup, which has developed a system for a self -designed system for transport trucks and other off -road vehicles used in construction and mining sites, acquired competition Safeai. The conditions have not been revealed. The co -founder and CEO Anthony Lewandowski described the acquisition as a talent and technology play. The largest part of the engineering team will come to start the 12 -person operation to Bonto.

viaThe Transit Software was presented with a primary publication program – again. History studied: By submitting a company to the public subscription in 2021, but he never took the following official and organizational steps to enter public markets. Now the company says it is ready. Will 2025 be the year?

Promise readings and other tales

Adas

clear Output Hand -free driving To the air cars by updating the programs at the end of the month, a major step forward for the company’s advanced driver assistance system.

Independent vehicles

Uber A robotics deal struck with the Chinese technology giant Baidu to spread thousands of independent vehicles in multiple markets outside the United States and the main righteousness of China.

Electric cars, batteries and shipping

General Motors It is the latest auto industry company that participates with Redwood Materials in the new energy storage project. When talking about General Motors, the auto manufacture LG energy solution For the production of LFP batteries cheaper.

Public record requests can reveal the most miserable things. For example, Rural It will resume preparatory work on his planned factory in Georgia in August and is still looking for separation in early next year, according to emails obtained through the request of public records.

In other countryside news … Participant founder and CEO of Rivian RJ Scaringe Part of his share in the property and the voting power As part of the newly settled divorce. The deposit caught our interest for several reasons (I suggest you read the story), especially since many technology founders, Scaringe had no huge amount of voting force after virtual.

The company’s latest software update gives the car mobility a new look and feeling. In short: MAPBOX outside, the Rivian-Meets-Google-Maps app is running.

Major correspondent Sean Okan And I joked that we are the only two people who left them on the ground, they care about what is happening Faraday future. Oh! But wait, as well as the matter secondAnd the agency seems to be preparing to take action.

Subaru The entirely called the Croce Cross Croced model, which contains more than 300 miles of range and will be sold in the United States in early 2026. Subaru said it would make prices closer to the market launch.

Timing She entered the long-awaited to India with the opening of the first showroom-nine years after the CEO of Elon Musk destroyed this step and after years of delay and the transfer of time tables in one of the largest car markets in the world. Stay tuned for more coverage from our correspondent in India Jagmeet Singh.

Tesla Cybertruck Sales decreased from their peak last year. how far? Below is one reference point: GMC Hummer EV (which is not completely seller) exceeded the curiosity of steel -covered polarization in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the jury began to choose a federal civilian lawsuit against Tesla. In the case is whether the company’s driver’s assisting technology is responsible for the 2019 killer’s failure in Ki Larvo, Florida. As you may expect, personal feelings about Elon Musk are waving on the jury.

The future of the trip

Judy flight It has doubled the size and status of production in the experimental manufacturing facility in Marina, California, where it presses the marketing of its vertical take -off and landing in the early year.