AV Companies Pick Their Lanes: Wayve, Waymo and Aurora Split on Scale

Wayve has locked in a commercial partnership with Mercedes-Benz to integrate the startup's automated driving technology into at least one model set to deploy within the next two years. The deal, announced this week, is a Level 2 product: the system handles certain driving maneuvers but the human driver must remain engaged. It is not fully driverless, but it gives the London-based startup reach, and it follows similar agreements with Nissan and Stellantis.

Those earlier partnerships have already opened doors for Wayve's higher ambitions. Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with Nissan and Uber to launch a robotaxi service in Tokyo.

Waymo is scaling differently — broadly and narrowly at the same time. A TechCrunch analysis of vehicle registration data found that about 80% of Waymo's roughly 4,000 robotaxis operate in just two states, California and Texas. Texas is where the momentum sits right now: Waymo's fleet there has grown by more than 49% in the past three weeks. The company is also chasing a new category of users: teenagers.

Aurora, the self-driving truck developer, sits somewhere between the two approaches. It concentrates operations in Texas while casting a wide net for partners. CEO Chris Urmson said this week that Aurora has "emerged from the building stage." The company targets more than 200 driverless trucks on the road by the end of this year and more than 30,000 in operation by 2030.

Zoox grounds Atlanta fleet after gas exposures

Zoox grounded its autonomous vehicle test fleet in Atlanta after safety drivers were potentially exposed to carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide or hydrogen sulfide gas inside its vehicles last month, according to a TechCrunch investigation by senior reporter Sean O'Kane. Zoox says it only ever found evidence of CO2 in the vehicles, which are Toyota Highlander SUVs equipped with the company's self-driving system.

Workers had been getting sick, and the repeated incidents led one worker to file a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA opened an inquiry and told Zoox to investigate the exposures.

Deals: IPOs line up outside the U.S.

While Wall Street debates whether the buzziest AI companies will go public in 2026, transportation has its own IPO pipeline, much of it outside the United States. Carro, the SoftBank-backed used car marketplace, is considering a dual listing on the Nasdaq and the Singapore Exchange. Two India-based companies — used car marketplace Spinny, backed by Tiger Global, and electric bus company PMI Electro Mobility Solutions — have both filed confidentially for IPOs. EcoCeres, a Hong Kong-based producer of renewable fuels, reportedly plans to raise about $1 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering.

Last week, U.S.-based autonomous vehicle company May Mobility said it plans to go public via a merger with a blank-check company.

Ultraviolette, the India-based electric motorcycle manufacturer, raised $85 million and brought on Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan as an adviser.

Regulators and robots

Comma, the startup founded by hacker George Hotz, is facing a federal investigation after five reported crashes involving its aftermarket hands-off driver-assistance technology. Two of those crashes resulted in three deaths.

Einride, the Swedish autonomous and electric trucking company, plans to use Nvidia's Hyperion platform to build the next generation of its self-driving system. San Francisco-based PitPro Automation has deployed a tire-changing robot at a shop in Canada.

The Boring Company is working on "a simple precursor Hyperloop" between Austin and San Antonio that would cut the journey to less than 30 minutes, according to founder Elon Musk.

Tesla is finally handing over the first of its all-electric Semi trucks to customers — nearly a decade after the 2017 reveal event. O'Kane adds an insider note: "Customers will be able to take delivery of the truck whenever they are ready, though charging infrastructure remains a hurdle."

Volkswagen is reportedly delaying the return of its ID Buzz to the United States. Its subsidiary MOIA America has partnered with Beep and is launching its first passenger services in self-driving ID Buzz vehicles equipped with Mobileye technology in the Orlando community of Lake Nona. A human operator remains on board.

MIT researcher Bryan Reimer this week weighed in on whether AI needs a learner's permit.

What to watch

TechCrunch's Disrupt conference in San Francisco is weeks away. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe takes the stage October 13 to face questions on the R2, robotaxis, automated driving and his spinout projects, Also and Mind Robotics. How Scaringe frames Rivian's autonomy roadmap against Waymo's Texas surge and Wayve's OEM partnerships will signal where the next phase of commercialization is heading.