Welcome to the Ride AI Newsletter, your weekly digest of news and intelligence at intersection of technology and transportation.

Hi everyone. Next Tuesday (3/11) at 10a Pacific / 1p Eastern, Ed Niedermeyer is hosting a Reddit AMA to talk about the staggering AV advances of the last few months and where the road potentially extends next for mobility innovation within the automotive industry. Join us—and bring your most pressing questions about autonomy—and Ed will answer at r/SelfDrivingCars.

This will be a nice little preview of the type of thought-provoking conversations we aim to cultivate at Ride AI on 4/2—where Ed will be emceeing.

In case you missed it, ticket prices for the LA event are increasing by 20% tomorrow (3/7), so if any of the topics covered in this newsletter resonate with you, we hope you will join us there.

Get Your Ride AI Tickets

PS For hotels, we recommend staying at Dream Hollywood. They were kind enough to offer us the best going rate available if you book by 3/14.

What You Need to Know Today

Waymo reports it is now doing 200k+ paid trips each week in the three cities in which it operates commercially (San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles), which means it doubled its ridership in less than a year.

And the Alphabet-backed company just entered a new market: As of this week, Waymo robotaxis can be hailed in Austin exclusively through the Uber app. Just in time for SXSW.

Tesla drivers in China are already accumulating traffic fines while using FSD, known locally as “Urban Road Autopilot Assistance,” for violations like blocking bike lanes and going straight in turning lanes. Elon Musk acknowledged last month that the rollout may be challenging due to China’s unique traffic rules. Unlike the US, China employs extensive automated enforcement systems, meaning any FSD errors will be quickly detected and publicly exposed.

Also Tesla is applying for a commercial ride-hail permit in California. The move suggests the automaker plans to use human drivers, at least initially, when it launches its robotaxi service. (Tesla already has approval to test autonomous vehicles in the state.)

Didi’s AV unit is seeking fresh capital at a hefty $5B valuation. The Chinese ride-hailing giant’s self-driving division has already secured over $1.5B since its 2020 formation and operates approximately 200 test vehicles across China, but has yet to generate revenue from robotaxi services. The fundraising effort appears strategically timed to capitalize on renewed investor enthusiasm for Chinese AV companies, following successful listings by competitors WeRide and Pony.ai in recent months.

Hyundai is forging a partnership with Avride to co-develop driverless technology. For Avride, the deal is an opportunity to bolster its robotaxi service, which is slated to debut in Dallas later this year exclusively through Uber’s platform. For Hyundai, it is a chance to diversify its autonomous strategy beyond troubled subsidiary Motional.

Warehouse-robot startup Ati has scored $20M in Series B funds, led by Walden Catalyst Ventures and NGP Capital.

Wayve has begun testing its L2+ driver-assist system in Germany, marking the UK-based startup’s first foray into mainland Europe.

In collaboration with DJI, Chinese automaker BYD announced a new roof-mounted drone launcher that will be available for all its vehicles. That’s one way to check for traffic up ahead.

Donald Trump is granting the Big Three automakers a one-month reprieve from the fresh 25% tariffs on cars coming into the US from Canada and Mexico.

China-based AV firm WeRide is launching driverless shuttle buses in southeastern France, marking the first commercial deployment of its Robobus in Europe.

Over 197 mph without human driver on board. Maserati’s AI-driven MC20 set a new autonomous vehicle world speed record at the Kennedy Space Center this week.

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