Heads up: Ride AI, an exclusive gathering of top leaders in autonomous driving and AI-powered hardtech, is happening on April 2, 2025, at NeueHouse in Hollywood, California.

In case you missed it, we unveiled the first round of speakers last week. Check out the full event schedule to see what’s in store.

We’ve lined up an incredible roster of speakers, including CEOs Amnon Shashua of Mobileye and Gill Pratt of Toyota Research Institute, along with key decision-makers from Waymo, Zoox, Lyft, Torc, Aurora, Kodiak, Wayve, MOAI, and more. And this is just the beginning—stay tuned as we reveal additional speakers in the coming weeks.

Onstage discussions will explore the transition from experimentation to real-world deployment and how to reshape conversations with public sector leaders, investors, the media, and beyond.

Ticket prices are set to increase in the first week of March, so now’s the time to get involved. Have questions? Drop us a message—we’d love to chat.

Get Your Ride AI Tickets

What You Need to Know Today

Elon Musk’s long-held dream of shipping FSD in China, the world’s largest car market, is one step closer to reality. Tesla has begun pushing a software update called “Urban Road Autopilot Assistance” (URAA), which appears to have similar driver-assist features to FSD, but may be less capable initially due to insufficient data training on Chinese roads. Tesla now faces an uphill battle to convince Chinese drivers that its technology is worth $8,800 more than BYD’s gratis ADAS system: God’s Eye.

A Chinese auto expert’s take on God’s Eye: “It’s way overhyped” compared to the driver-assist offerings from carmakers like XPeng, Nio, and Li Auto. But will consumers care once BYD, which already sells 4M cars per year, starts shipping the software for free?

Apollo Go completed 1.1M robotaxi trips in Q4, a 36% increase YoY. As the Baidu-owned company begins to expand outside of mainland China—it recently received a permit to operate AVs in Hong Kong—one wonders how secure Waymo and Tesla’s moats will be. For now they’re protected by a Biden mandate blocking Chinese AVs on US soil, which Trump will probably maintain, but what about in global markets?

Meanwhile in the US, Musk-led DOGE is cutting 10% of NHTSA’s workforce—including nearly half of the team that oversees AV regulation.

AV trucking startup Gatik is courting first responders as part of its rollout. This is a smart move because, as Timothy B. Lee has noted, emergency workers don’t always get along with AVs, and their input carries significant weight with safety officials.

Robotaxi chasers? A new billboard in Los Angeles is advertising legal services specifically for people involved in autonomous vehicle crashes. While robotaxis have been involved in remarkably few accidents (Waymo reports an accident rate approximately 85% lower than human drivers in similar conditions), the legal industry clearly sees an opportunity to go after tech giants with substantial resources.

This video of a Waymo vehicle avoiding a hill-bombing skateboarder in Santa Monica tells you everything you need to know about the pedestrian safety benefits of AVs.

AiDEN, a connected vehicle startup, has raised a $6.1M seed round led by Nuri.

If you squint just right, you could argue that AAA’s annual AV survey contains mildly positive news for the industry: 13% of US drivers now report they would trust riding in fully autonomous vehicles, up from 9% last year. But despite this incremental gain, overall trust remains stubbornly low, hovering in the low-to-mid teens for several consecutive years. The persistent skepticism highlights a critical challenge for AV companies: people need firsthand experience with the technology to overcome safety concerns. I would bet markets with an active robotaxi presence, like San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin, likely show markedly different trust profiles compared to the national average.

Dubai’s largest taxi operator says it expects to see robotaxis on the road next year. Meanwhile Softbank’s joint venture with Toyota is gearing up to launch driverless taxis in Tokyo’s Waterfront city.

In addition, the Japanese capital will soon be getting Avride sidewalk delivery bots as part of a collaboration with e-commerce giant Rakuten.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has confirmed that Tesla shows no interest in joining the ridehail giant’s growing roster of autonomous vehicle partnerships. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Khosrowshahi acknowledged that despite Uber’s openness to collaboration, Tesla has not yet reciprocated.