The news media has expended considerable effort researching and publishing information about the robotaxi business. This channel highlights some of the important articles.
NY Times article on how the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Tesla for safety issues with Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, which have together led to at least 29 fatal crashes.
In the Q1 2024 financial report for General Motors they show that Cruise only has enough cash to continue operating through Q3. At that point we can expect GM to wave goodbye to their multi-billion dollar investment.
Two California bills for better regulating autonomous vehicles are advancing in the state legislature. One is to provide the ability to cite AVs for traffic infractions. The second is to allow local oversight over AVs.
SF Chronicle article on how Waymo drove across double yellow line into oncoming traffic for two full blocks. And Waymo describes the motivation as 'safety'? Hah! Full video of incident is included for your viewing enjoyment.
This article was published by Bloomberg just two days before Tesla's Q1 24 earnings call. It shows exactly how poorly Tesla was executing, with sales and revenue down significantly. But then on the Q1 call Musk states some fantasies about how their robotaxi and low cost Tesla would come out soon and the stock soared by 40%. Will be very interesting if the SEC pursues Musk for making false statements to investors.
Quite a scathing article on how not only is Elon Musk's robotaxi unveiling on 8/8 (which year???) absurd, but this is the third time such an annoucement has been made.
4/5/24 was a really bad day of news for Tesla. There were articles on how badly Tesla is doing financially, how they have cancelled their much needed low-cost model, how Musk claimed that model hasn't been canceled, and how no other companies are interested in FSD. So of course Musk makes another absurd announcement to distract attention. Suddenly FSD will actually work, they will achieve full Level 4 autonomy, and the Tesla Robotaxi will be unveiled on 8/8/24. Just absurd.
Elon Musk, who has absolutely no credibility, accuses Reuters of "lying" in their verified article. Impressively, his statement caused Tesla stock to pare its decline. Additional articles on same day cover Musk's equally ludicrous claim that the Tesla robotaxi will be unveiled on 8/8/24.
Reuters is first to report that Tesla has cancelled their much need entry-level $25k Tesla model. This information is based on multiple sources and internal company messages that were seen by Reuters. Soon after Tesla CEO Elon Musk provided conflicting information, but everyone knows that his statements are completely unreliable. Other articles with statements by Musk are available here at robotaxi.rodeo .
As Tesla prospects falter Elon Musk tried his old trick of hyping Full Self Driving (FSD) by offering it to rival car manufacturing companies. The newsworthy part is that no other companies have expressed any interest in FSD, likely because it is a pathetic and unsafe product.
Article from TechCrunch on an autonomous vehicle company you never heard of raised $220 million, hyped dubious AI tech, and then went bust. Just pathetic.
Fortune article on how GM is exploring whether they can get others to bail out Cruise by claiming that it is an AI company, since that is where the money currently is. And still, no plan for restarting actual service.
Article from The Verge on how NYC will be allowing robotaxis, but only with human drivers. Importantly, to get a permit operators will need to first report "disengagements" from service in another city. This is critical information that the robotaxi operators have so far refused to hand over.
