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This newsletter is packaged and ready to be sent. Travis Kalanick A surprising announcement brought me back to 2016.
Uber’s co-founder and former CEO, who resigned in 2017 after a series of controversies, is coming back and starting a ‘robot company.’ atom. And wait. He is on the precipice of acquisition. as soon as possibleA self-driving car startup focused on industrial and mining sites founded by a former Uber colleague; Anthony Lewandowski. Kalanick said he was already Pronto’s “largest investor.”
It’s a lot to digest, and this is the final sign that we’re truly back in 2016. For those who don’t remember, 2016 was a hype year for AV. Uber acquired Levandowski’s startup Otto. The deal fell apart almost immediately, and Waymo sued the ride-hailing company for trade secret theft.
Now back to the original programming.
I had waxing last week. rivian And the EV maker’s bid to make the upcoming R2 SUV one of the fastest vehicle launches in history. ICYMI, here it is.
This week I’m in Austin. SXSW — The annual technology and music meets film, TV and comedy festival. Rivian, the headline sponsor of SXSW, used the event to share pricing and other specs for the R2. There’s still a lot left to unpack, and I’m still interviewing people (including the CEO) as I write this. RJ Scaring later today), but here’s what we know.
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The Performance Launch Edition, which will be the first version of the R2, starts at $57,990. My earlier article took a closer look at what you get for that price. And senior reporter Sean O’Kane focused on the long-promised $45,000 version and why it won’t be released until late 2027.
My time spent at SXSW with the Rivian guys started to reveal some of their R2 strategy. The company is focusing heavily on experiential marketing aimed directly at its core markets. Austin’s SXSW attendees, which include wealthy tech and creative people from around the world, could be as close as you get to the Rivian customer archetype.
But will it work? The EV itself is IMO much more accessible than the much larger and more expensive flagship R1 truck and SUV. R2 also has several items that make it more powerful and performant than its pricier peers, including a new operating system. Although I haven’t tested it for very long, the operating system software is a noticeable improvement over the R1 in terms of computing and user interface. For example, the R2 has one system-on-chip (SoC) that runs infotainment and handles 200 tera operations per second (TOPS) of compute at the edge. The next-generation R1 vehicle will have four SoCs and will perform most of its computing in the cloud.
Head of Software at Rivian; Wasim BensaidThis edge computing is important, he said, because it allows companies to run large language models locally, delivering much lower latency and better performance.
Another big change to briefly mention is the ‘halo wheel’ on the steering wheel in the photo above. The wheel provides tactile feedback and allows the driver to quickly change temperature, fan speed and speaker volume without having to move their hands or eyes to the central screen. chief designer Jeff Hammoud They said they could address some of their customers’ biggest requests without adding a lot of buttons. In particular, software allows companies to add more features to these halo wheels over time.
dickey
Lucid Motors It garnered a lot of attention at its investor day by showcasing a robotaxi concept designed to build on the company’s “midsize” EV platform. interim CEO Mark Winterhoff The company was told declaratively on stage that it was “developing a dedicated Lucid Robotaxi” that would follow its midsize EV debut.
The company later clarified to TechCrunch that there is no active development going on and that the vehicle is just a concept. The little birdie says this is a very new project that started only in the last two or three months, a timeline that makes us wonder how long it will really take for Lucid Motors to get something like this on the road.
Do you have any tips? Email Kirsten Korosec. kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com Or send my Signal to kkorosec.07 or email Sean O’Kane. sean.okane@techcrunch.com.
Special price!
I think it’s a Rivian problem! This is because the company has raised a lot of money to establish another startup and expand it. I am mentioning Mind RoboticsThe $500 million Series A funding round was co-led by Industrial Robotics Research Institute and venture firms Accel and Andreessen Horowitz.
As Sean O’Kane writes, the funding follows a $115 million seed round in late 2025 led by Eclipse (this VC seems to be everywhere these days). Mind Robotics is currently valued at approximately $2 billion.
Robotics was the focus of some of Rivian’s programming at SXSW, including panels that included engineers and YouTubers. mark robert And Rivian CEO RJ Scaring. I interviewed Scaringe on the sidelines of the event and asked him about Mind Robotics and what’s behind its efforts. I also asked him if he had any plans to spin off more companies. Let’s just say there was a very long pause before he ultimately said, “Probably not.”
We’ll have a longer story about the interview soon, but one item worth mentioning is that Scaringe basically believes that companies are completely wrong about the future of industrial robots.
“There has been an incredible emphasis on mimicking human biomechanics or, in some cases, creating much more complex mechatronics. What is missing in the industry (setting) is one of the things we can clearly see is that the work happens by hand,” Scaringe said. “So the hands are very important. From the point of view of the robotic system, everything else is about getting the hands into the right position. So the ability of a robot to perform very complex movements like a backflip actually means that the robot has a lot of unnecessary complexity for most tasks and understanding.”
Other deals that caught my attention this week…
Global ride-hailing company drive me Acquired Pakistan’s quick commerce startup Krave Mart. Two sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch that the all-stock deal had received approval from the Competition Commission of Pakistan, allowing the company to proceed with the transaction. inDrive confirmed the acquisition but declined to disclose financial terms.
Mirai Roboticsan Italian company developing autonomous maritime systems, has received $4.2 million in investment from Primo Capital, Techshop, and 40Jemz Ventures.
surf air Ordered 25 electric ALIA aircraft from Beta Technologies with options for up to 75 more.
Notable Reads and Other Useful Information
Brian Reimeran MIT research scientist who recently appeared on my Autonocast podcast, raised an interesting question in a column published this month. Are automated vehicles headed for the same political divide as electric vehicles?
archer airlines Competitor Joby Aviation responded to the suit with its own counterclaim, alleging that it defrauded the U.S. government and its competitors by falsely presenting itself as an American-made company. The electric air sector is increasingly litigious, which can be very disruptive and costly in the early stages of development.
group 14 has begun production of silicon battery materials at its BAM-3 plant in South Korea. The plant can produce up to 2,000 metric tons per year, enough for 10 gigawatt hours of energy storage capacity, or about 100,000 long-range EVs.
Hayden A.I.The San Francisco-based startup is suing its co-founder and former CEO, alleging gross misconduct and misappropriation of funds.
that Federal Aviation Administration Eight pilot programs have been approved that allow for small numbers of companies, including: archer airlines, beta technology, Joby Airlinesand mathExtensive electric aircraft testing is expected to begin as early as this summer. Our three-year program spans 26 states!
precursora Los Angeles-based EV startup, has unveiled its second vehicle, a compact mid-duty work truck.
Lucid Motors Gravity SUV ships with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to owners.
that National Transportation Safety Board In 2024, information was released that two drivers were involved in a fatal crash while operating their vehicles. ford The BlueCruise hands-free driving system was most likely distracted just before the crash.
onlya Silicon Valley-based startup backed by Nvidia, Uber, and SoftBank, is testing self-driving car technology in Japan.
slate autothe Jeff Bezos-backed EV startup, has appointed a new CEO ahead of its production launch. Former Amazon Marketplace Vice President Peter Faricy currently leads the company, and former CEO Christine Barman is now President of Vehicles.
tesla It is now an officially licensed utility in the UK.
wave In collaboration with Uber and Nissan, the company plans to launch a robotaxi service in Tokyo and begin a pilot service at the end of 2026.
uber Hyundai Motors added motion Motional’s self-driving Hyundai Ioniq 5 vehicles join the growing robotaxi network now appearing on the Uber app in Las Vegas. These vehicles are now equipped with human safety monitors.
Zoox There were several announcements this week that provide a roadmap for where the Amazon-owned company wants to go. The company has begun mapping the streets of Dallas and Phoenix as a first step before testing its self-driving cars in Sun Belt cities.
It’s also partnering with Uber to make robotaxi available on its ride-hailing app in Las Vegas later this year. But the Uber partnership deserves an important caveat. Zoox cannot commercially distribute its custom robotaxi, which do not have a steering wheel or other traditional controls, until it receives an exemption from federal automotive safety standards. The process has begun. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it will begin taking public comments on Zoox’s application for this exemption. Zoox only receives exemptions for vehicle demonstrations.
One more thing…
that Chevrolet Bolt EV It comes back again. A true EV deep cut. and senior reporter team song I went on a company-sponsored press drive and came back with an interesting idea that I’ve become increasingly obsessed with as an EV sales strategy. The Chevy Bolt is the McRib of the automotive world. Need I say more? De Chant also looked at the economics of GM relaunching the Bolt.
