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Autonomous vehicles

Autonomous vehicles
Amazon’s Zoox scales robotaxi testing across US
Amazon’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary Zoox will begin testing self-driving vehicles in Dallas and Phoenix, expanding the company’s robotaxi development programme as competition intensifies in the emerging United States autonomous ride-hailing market. The company told the market on Monday it plans to deploy a small number of retrofitted Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicles equipped with its autonomous driving system, with a human safety driver behind the wheel. The vehicles will map local roads before Zoox introduces its purpose-built driverless robotaxis; a bidirectional electric vehicle designed without a steering wheel or pedals. The expansion will bring Zoox’s testing footprint to 10 U.S. markets and marks the latest step by Amazon in scaling its autonomous mobility ambitions after acquiring the startup for US$1.3 billion (A$1.852 billion) in 2020. Zoox plans to accelerate development of its artificial intelligence and vehicle systems under a broader range of environmental conditions. Dallas and Phoenix present “diverse weather and complex road networks” compared with the dense urban environments where the company has conducted much of its testing, Zoox said in a company blog post. Phoenix will allow eng
Autonomous vehicles
Autonomous vehicle startup Oxa raises US$103m
British autonomous vehicle startup Oxa raised US$103 million in the first close of its Series D funding round. The funding round was led by Nvidia, with backing from the UK’s National Wealth Fund, in a boost to the country’s technology sector. The fundraising round includes an initial $50 million commitment from the National Wealth Fund, owned by the Treasury and Nvidia’s venture capital arm NVentures. Oxa was founded in 2014 and now focuses on the automation of repetitive industrial serving tasks, like the towing and carrying of goods in ports, airports and factories. The latest investor round also includes capital from existing shareholders. This includes the London-listed IP-Group, which invests in British tech companies, Australian superannuation fund Hotplus and BP Ventures, the UK oil company’s arm that backs innovative technologies. Oxa’s co-founder and chief technology officer, Paul Newman, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the investment was “great for the UK”. He also said the company exported passenger-carrying software to the U.S., used to transport 20,000 people, but has decided that the market was too complex, given regulatory uncertainty around road autonomy for passenger cars. “We think t
Autonomous vehicles
Waymo's new robotaxi tech slashes costs, boosts range
Waymo has begun fully autonomous operations with its sixth-generation Driver - a sensor package designed to slash costs while expanding into extreme weather markets. The system represents seven years of operational data from nearly 200 million autonomous miles across 10-plus cities. The latest configuration uses less than half the cameras of its predecessor while delivering superior performance through custom silicon chips and advanced processing.Key tech upgradesVision system: 17-megapixel imager provides exceptional resolution, dynamic range, and low-light sensitivity - a generational leap ahead of standard automotive cameras. Integrated cleaning systems maintain visibility when rain or road grime would blind conventional cameras. Lidar: Leverages industry-wide cost reductions while maintaining greater range and fidelity than previous generations. Short-range units provide centimetre-scale accuracy critical for navigating alongside pedestrians and opening car doors. Upgraded illumination and processing help penetrate heavy roadspray and weather conditions. Radar: Creates dense temporal maps tracking distance, velocity, and object size regardless of lighting or weather. Uses lightweight machine-learning mo
Autonomous vehicles
Uber and Baidu expand robotaxi service to Dubai
Uber and Baidu will expand their autonomous rideshare services to Dubai in the coming months. This marks the latest push in Baidu’s goal toward global expansion. The companies said fully autonomous vehicles will be available on the Uber app across select locations within the Jumeirah area. They also added that they would expand further based on operational progress and regulatory approvals across the city. This builds upon the companies’ partnership that was announced last year, where they said Baidu autonomous vehicles would be on the Uber App across multiple global markets, including the U.S. and mainland. The announcement comes as competition in the robotaxi industry ramps up and Uber attempts to become a bigger competitor. Uber recently unveiled new robotaxis from Lucis Motors and Nuro at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show and was part of a US$300 million investment in Lucis. Baidu has been running its Apollo Go robotaxi commercially in several Chinese cities since 2022 and now has a global footprint of 22 cities and has completed more than 17 million rides as of October. The ⁠company also has a tie-up with Lyft to deploy robotaxis across Europe. In December, Baidu teamed up with Uber and Lyft to laun
Autonomous vehicles
Nvidia to test robotaxis as Uber unveils new vehicles
The robotaxi industry is growing with Nvidia gearing up to start testing these vehicles in 2027 and Uber ramping up its efforts. Nvidia announced it plans to offer a robotaxi service with a partner and would employ cars with “Level 4” driving, meaning they would be capable of driving without human intervention in pre-defined regions. “We will probably start with a limited availability but work with the partner for us to get our footing,” Xinzhou Wu, Nvidia’s vice president of automotive, said at a self-driving demonstration in San Francisco last month. Automotive and robotics chips accounted for just US$592 million in sales in the quarter ended in October, or around 1% of its total revenue. Nvidia also announced a robotaxi deal with Uber in October to create cars with Nvidia AI infrastructure. Uber also recently ramped up its efforts in the robotaxi industry, unveiling new robotaxis from Lucid Motors and Nuro at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show. The vehicle has been in development for more than half a year and was part of Uber's US$300 million investment in Lucis and its commitment to purchasing 20,000 of the company’s EVs. The companies said the vehicles were ready to be tested on public roads, with commerc

Autonomous vehicles
Baidu to start testing robotaxis in the UK
Baidu will start testing its self-driving taxis on the roads of London starting next year through its partnerships with Lyft and Uber. Both of the ride-share companies shared the news on their respective social media platforms. In a post to X, Uber said testing is expected to start in the first half of 2026. “We’re excited to accelerate Britain's leadership in the future of mobility, bringing another safe and reliable travel option to Londoners next year,” Uber said. The CEO and co-founder of Lyft, David Risher, said riders in the trial will be the first to experience Baidu’s Apollo Go vehicles. “We expect to start testing our initial fleet with dozens of vehicles next year - pending regulatory approval - through the Lyft and Freenow ecosystem, with plans to scale to hundreds from there,” Risher said. This grows Baidu’s global footprint, which currently includes 22 cities and more than 250,000 weekly trips, as it competes with competitors like China’s WeRide and Western Giant Waymo, which is owned by Alphabet. The U.K. has especially been a region of interest for driverless taxi services, with the government announcing that it would accelerate plans to allow autonomous vehicle tech on public roads. “Self-dr
Autonomous vehicles
Waymo services suspended during power outage
Waymo has suspended its driverless taxi service in the San Francisco Bay Area following city-wide blackouts. A Waymo spokesperson told CNBC that its teams are working with city officials to bring its services back online. “We have temporarily suspended our ride-hailing services in the San Francisco Bay Area due to the widespread power outage,” they said. “We appreciate your patience and will provide further updates as soon as they are available.” Multiple social media videos showed the Alphabet-owned videos blocking traffic during the power outage, which left 125,000 homes in the dark. The Waymo vehicles began to have trouble navigating the streets without functioning traffic lights, causing them to stop. The cars also use an “advanced suite of car sensors” with AI to help the car “decipher what’s around it”. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said that power is expected to come back within the next day. Elon Musk posted to X that “Tesla Robotaxis were unaffected by the SF power outage”, despite Tesla not offering driverless taxi services in the city. Tesla’s services in San Francisco require a human driver behind the wheel at all times, as Tesla has yet to obtain permits to conduct driverless testing or s
Autonomous vehicles
Waymo takes its robotaxis to freeways in three cities
Waymo has begun offering freeway driving routes in three major United States cities in its driverless robotaxis. The rides will be available on freeways across the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix and Los Angeles, “when a freeway route is meaningfully faster”. The Alphabet-owned company also plans to expand the feature to other locations like Austin and Atlanta in the future. Before this, the driverless taxis have taken passengers on smaller highways and side streets. The new expansion will mark the first time that the vehicles will take payment from public riders to go on freeways with higher speed limits. “Freeway driving is one of those things that’s very easy to learn, but very hard to master when we’re talking about full autonomy without a human driver as a backup, and at scale,” Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said at a press event ahead of the announcement. “It took time to do it properly.” The Waymo vehicles will typically travel up to a freeway’s posted speed of around 65mph, according to the company. The company said it collaborated with officials in the areas to ensure the vehicles were safe. “This experience, reinforced by comprehensive testing as well as extensive operational preparation, supports
Autonomous vehicles
Waymo announces Steve Fieler as new CFO
Self-driving ride share company, Waymo, has welcomed Steve Fieler as its new CFO. This comes as Waymo, which is owned by Alphabet, is bringing its robotaxi service into more markets with further plans for 2026. The company is also entering its next phase, which could include seeking additional outside investment. “Steve's extensive experience will be instrumental in guiding us through this next chapter,” Waymo said in a blog post. “He has a remarkable track record of helping companies—from early-stage ventures to global enterprises—scale, transform, and achieve financial success.” Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said this was a pivotal moment in the company’s history and thanked former CFO Elisa de Martel for the impact she made over the past three years. Steve was a key member of Google’s CFO team, where he served as President, Planning, BizOps, Investments, and Investor Relations. He was also CFO at HP, and Business Finance Office for Google’s Platforms and Ecosystem unit, responsible for products including Android and Chrome. During the third quarter, Alphabet reported a decline in revenue from US$388 million to US$344 million in its “Other Bets” category, which includes Waymo. Currently, Waymo offers s