Tesla Delays Robotaxi Launch - Are They Stalling or Shipping?

Welcome to the Ride AI Newsletter, your weekly digest of important events and new developments at the intersection of technology and transportation.

What You Need to Know Today

Tesla is postponing its robotaxi launch from August until October. The two-month delay was caused by “an important design change to the front” of the vehicle, according to Elon Musk. Some observers argue the holdup is a sign that Tesla’s tech isn’t ready for primetime. Others speculate that the company may have a surprise up its sleeve, and the extra time could be used to set up a ride-hail network and/or finish the internal release of the 12.6 version of FSD.

Related: Ever wonder why some Tesla vehicles feature lidar, even though Musk has bashed the technology as ineffective for self-driving cars? It’s because the company uses the sensors to validate and test FSD’s depth-perception and distance measuring.

Skild AI, a robotics startup that is based in Pittsburgh and San Francisco, has raised $300M in Series A funding to develop foundation models to power general-purpose robots. Led by SoftBank, Coatue, Lightspeed Venture and Expeditions fund.

Meanwhile Hayden AI, a San Francisco startup that specializes in computer vision for smart cities, has raised $90M in Series C funding. Led by the Rise Fund.

… and Sweden-based Phyron has raised €10M in Series B funding to enhance its AI-powered content creation platform for car dealers. Led by Round2 Capital.

Yandex’s self-driving group, which paused operations following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has restructured and rebranded as Avride. Now free of ties to Russia and headquartered in Austin, the company is continuing its work in automated driving and delivery services.

At least 17 Waymo taxis, some carrying passengers, were damaged during a tire-slashing spree in San Francisco. The incidents were captured by the cars built-in cameras.

California lawmakers are once again considering a ban on driverless trucks.

Archer Aviation inked an airtaxi deal with Southwest Airlines, which will see the two companies develop an on-demand eVTOL network in California.

Seoul’s public transportation system is piloting an autonomous bus route in key tourist areas.

Three European automakers from the Stellantis group, France’s Peugeot, Germany’s Opel, and the United Kingdom’s Vauxhall, will integrate ChatGPT into cars for voice assistance.

Serve Robotics, a sidewalk-robot startup, has expanded its delivery area in Los Angeles to include Koreatown. The company plans to deploy 2,000 robots in 2025.