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Lyft Gets Off Sidelines in Robotaxi War

Plus, BYD introduces ADAS for all.

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What You Need to Know Today

Fresh off its first profitable year, Lyft is making its biggest move in the world of autonomous vehicles in quite a while. The ride-hail company revealed plans to deploy Mobileye-powered robotaxis in Dallas by 2026, with Japanese conglomerate Marubeni owning the vehicles. The announcement marks a stark departure from Lyft’s previously quiet approach to autonomy, especially compared to rival Uber’s aggressive string of AV partnerships over the past year. With market leader Waymo steadily expanding its footprint and capturing rider market share in key cities, Lyft appears to have realized it can no longer afford to watch from the sidelines as the robotaxi revolution unfolds.

Meanwhile Uber is working with Waymo where possible and competing where it must. As of this week, customers in Austin can now hail a driverless Waymo ride in the Uber app. But that doesn’t exactly make the two companies allies, per the NYT: “In December, when Waymo said it was expanding into Miami without an Uber partnership, Uber’s stock tumbled 9 percent.”

ADAS for all? BYD announced it will make its advanced driver-assistance system available at no additional cost across most of its lineup, pushing its stock to record highs. The Chinese automaker’s “God’s Eye” ADAS will become standard equipment on vehicles priced as low as 100,000 yuan ($13,700). By comparison, Tesla charges $99/month for FSD in the US. In the heated EV market, BYD’s move to include L2+ ADAS as a standard feature—rather than a premium add-on—could reshape the affordable segment.

Image Credit: BYD

Which ADAS technologies keep you the safest? New research shows that lane-keeping assistance (-19.1%), driver monitoring systems (-14%), and automatic emergency braking (-10.7%) had the strongest impact on crash rate reduction. Interestingly, automatic cruise control and cruise control were associated with increased crash rates (+8% and +12%, respectively). (h/t Reilly Brennan)

Self Inspection has raised $3M for AI vehicle inspections, co-led by Costanoa Ventures and DVx Ventures.

May Mobility will launch its first commercial robotaxi service in Peachtree Corners (part of the Atlanta metro area). The startup differs from Waymo and Zoox in that, up until now, it has focused on deploying driverless cars for shuttles and carpool.

Image Credit: May Mobility

Lyft is teaming up with Anthropic on a new AI-powered customer service agent.

Meanwhile DeepSeek, the Chinese lab whose open-source AI model recently sent shockwaves through global markets, has become the hot new feature for Chinese cars. BYD, Geely, and Great Wall have all said they will integrate DeepSeek’s AI models into their in-car software. And the support for DeepSeek isn’t limited to China: Nissan is following along too.

Chinese AV company WeRide has added a self-driving cargo vehicle to its lineup, which looks similar to the classic Nuro bot.

Image Credit: WeRide

Waymo is adding 10 square miles to its service area in Los Angeles.

Donald Trump is tapping Apple executive Jonathan Morrison to lead NHTSA as top auto safety regulator.

Trump paused his 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada, but implemented a global 25% tax on steel and aluminum—a measure that automakers say will drive up car prices.

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