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Waymo has received approval to test its autonomous Zeekr vehicles on Sacramento, California streets, with testing already underway. This marks a new testing location for Waymo, expanding its geographic footprint and gathering data to support future commercial deployment in the state capital.
Waymo has removed the waitlist for its robotaxi service in Houston, Texas, and registered its Ojai minivan robotaxi in the state. This marks a full commercial expansion in a major metro area, signaling Waymo's confidence in scaling operations beyond its initial launch cities.
A Tesla robotaxi in an unspecified location became trapped by bollards and reportedly drove over them to escape, causing potential vehicle damage. This incident raises questions about the edge-case handling and decision-making algorithms of Tesla's Full Self-Driving system in urban environments, highlighting operational challenges for robotaxi deployments.
Kaspersky discovered a malware family targeting Android-based vehicle head units made by DoFun, spreading through built-in updaters. The malware acts as a multi-stage downloader for ad fraud and proxy botnet creation. This highlights a new attack vector in the automotive supply chain, where legitimate update mechanisms are abused to compromise in-vehicle systems.
Researchers demonstrated an autonomous EV worm that started from a Tesla Wall Connector and spread across Tesla, Autel, and ChargePoint charging systems. The attack exploits the interconnected EV charging ecosystem, showing how a single compromised charger can propagate malware. This underscores the need for robust security across charging infrastructure, not just vehicles, to prevent large-scale disruptions.
Las Vegas has become a new hub for driverless vehicle testing, expanding the city's role in autonomous vehicle development. The testing involves multiple companies deploying autonomous shuttles and robotaxis in urban environments. This move positions Las Vegas as a key proving ground for AV technology, offering a unique regulatory and traffic environment that could accelerate real-world deployment and data collection.
Uber, Pony.ai, and Verne have launched the first robotaxi service in Europe, with operations beginning in an unspecified city. This milestone marks the entry of commercial autonomous ride-hailing into the European market, while Tesla's robotaxi efforts lag behind, giving these companies a first-mover advantage in a new regulatory and consumer landscape.
Waymo disclosed its first custom application-specific integrated chip, built on TSMC 5nm process technology, which delivers over 1,000 TOPS for processing raw sensor data in its robotaxi fleet. The chip is dedicated to front-end sensor processing and machine-learning models, not total vehicle compute, and is already deployed in the Ojai robotaxi generation. This development signals a shift toward in-house silicon for autonomous driving, potentially reducing reliance on suppliers like Nvidia. The impact is a more vertically integrated and potentially more secure hardware architecture, though the security implications of the custom design remain undisclosed.
Tesla is recalling 2.74 million China-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles via an over-the-air software update to improve driver-attention monitoring while assisted driving features are active. This regulatory action in China underscores the importance of robust driver monitoring systems for ADAS and could influence global safety standards for autonomous vehicle technology.
A hacker has exposed hidden crash data from Tesla vehicles, revealing that the company may be underreporting safety incidents. The data, obtained through unauthorized access, suggests discrepancies in Tesla's reported Autopilot and Full Self-Driving performance metrics. This raises regulatory and public trust concerns for Tesla's autonomous driving technology, potentially impacting future approvals and consumer confidence.
UK motor insurers are assessing risks from potential fraudulent or malicious tactics, termed 'skulduggery,' targeting robotaxis. This analysis highlights the need for new insurance frameworks and cybersecurity measures as autonomous vehicles become more prevalent, impacting how insurers price policies and manage liability in the UK market.
Waymo plans to launch its driverless robotaxi service in Denver, Colorado, soon, with hundreds of Ojai minivans expected in the state. The company is finalizing operation depots and meeting internal safety and rider quality metrics before opening to the public, indicating a phased approach to market entry.
The French data protection authority CNIL published final recommendations on the use of geolocation data from connected vehicles, effective 30 June 2026. The guidance applies to vehicle location data handling, likely impacting OEMs and service providers in France. This sets a precedent for privacy regulation in the EU, potentially influencing how connected vehicle data is collected and processed across the region.
Einride and DAF Trucks are partnering to develop Level 4 autonomous electric trucks, targeting freight operations without human drivers. The collaboration combines Einride's autonomous driving software with DAF's electric truck platforms, aiming for commercial deployment in Europe. This partnership advances the feasibility of driverless electric freight, potentially reducing operational costs and emissions in long-haul logistics.
Tesla is shifting its robotaxi strategy from using the Model Y to the purpose-built Cybercab, a move highlighted by JPMorgan as key to deploying a dedicated autonomous fleet. The Cybercab, designed without a steering wheel, is expected to lower production costs and optimize ride-hailing efficiency. This pivot signals Tesla's commitment to a scalable, purpose-built robotaxi platform rather than retrofitting existing consumer vehicles.
Waymo has launched its first robotaxi service in San Diego, California, offering public rides in the city. This expansion extends Waymo's operational footprint to another major metropolitan area, demonstrating the scalability of its autonomous ride-hailing platform and increasing pressure on competitors to accelerate their own city launches.
Nevada regulators approved permits allowing Tesla, Uber, and Waymo to operate up to 8,000 robotaxis in the state. This multi-operator approval marks a significant expansion of commercial autonomous ride-hailing in a single U.S. state, intensifying competition and setting a regulatory precedent for large-scale AV fleets.
Kodiak Robotics received a permit from California to test its autonomous trucks on public roads. The company will operate its self-driving Class 8 trucks in the state, expanding its testing footprint beyond Texas. This approval marks a significant regulatory step for autonomous freight deployment on the West Coast.
Researchers are exploring the use of attention-grabbing virtual agents, such as holograms or digital avatars, to improve communication between self-driving cars and pedestrians. This technology aims to bridge the gap in human-vehicle interaction, potentially enhancing safety and trust in autonomous vehicle systems by making their intentions more explicit.
Tesla stated that the Cybercab is just the beginning of its robotaxi plans, with more vehicle types to be added to the autonomous fleet in the future. This indicates a scalable platform approach to autonomous ride-hailing. The expansion beyond a single vehicle model could help Tesla serve diverse passenger needs and market segments.
Tesla's robotaxis appear to be operating fully unsupervised in Austin, Texas, ahead of the Cybercab launch. This marks a significant step toward commercial autonomous ride-hailing without safety drivers. The deployment in Austin will be a key test of Tesla's vision-based autonomy in a real-world urban environment.
Uber launched its first European robotaxi service in Zagreb, Croatia, following a partnership announced in March. Riders can access the autonomous vehicles through the UberX or Comfort options, with the app providing trip details and instructions. This deployment establishes Uber's entry point for autonomous ride-hailing in Europe and tests consumer adoption in a new market.
British EV company Voltempo announced plans for a cabless, fully autonomous electric truck prototype, the Smart trailer, due by September 2027. The 15.6-metre rigid vehicle would exceed UK length limits and carry up to 42 tonnes, offering 15% more cargo volume and five to seven tonnes of extra payload capacity. This design could significantly improve freight economics by reducing vehicle weight and increasing average load per trip.
Uber launched Baidu's fully driverless Apollo Go robotaxis in Dubai, creating the first multi-partner autonomous ride-hailing network globally. This deployment marks a significant cross-border partnership between a US ride-hailing giant and a Chinese AV leader, potentially setting a template for future international AV collaborations.
Autonomous vehicles are being deployed to boost smart logistics operations in Shenzhen, China's Guangdong province. This deployment demonstrates the growing integration of AV technology in commercial freight and delivery within a major Chinese tech hub, highlighting the country's push to lead in autonomous logistics and smart city infrastructure.