Deploying and commercializing fully autonomous vehicles have been harder than expected with high investments to ensure the technology is safe and public outcry after collisions forcing many to shut shop. Following a high-profile accident in 2023 when a robotaxi from General Motors’ GM.N Cruise dragged a pedestrian, regulators revoked its permit, eventually leading the company to cease operations.But robotaxis have returned to the spotlight with Tesla rolling out its service in Austin, Texas earlier this year and CEO Elon Musk promising rapid expansion. Waymo, which has grown slowly and steadily over the years since its launch as Google’s self-driving project in 2009, has also accelerated expansion.

Waymo said the self-driving system in its robotaxis treats dead stop lights as four-way stops, just like humans are supposed to. That should have allowed the robotaxis to operate normally in spite of the massive outage.Instead, many of the vehicles requested a “confirmation check” from Waymo’s fleet response team to make sure what they were doing was correct. All Waymo robotaxis have the ability to make these confirmation checks. With such a widespread outage on Saturday, there was a “concentrated spike” in these confirmation requests, Waymo said, which helped create all the congestion caught on video.

A Zoox spokesperson told TechCrunch the company identified some instances in which its vehicles made maneuvers that, while common for human drivers, didn’t meet its standards. For example, in an effort to avoid blocking certain intersections at a red light, the robotaxi might stop in a crosswalk. In other instances, the robotaxi made a late turn, resulting in a wide turn, according to a spokesperson’s emailed statement.

Uber said it is teaming up with Baidu's Apollo Go autonomous vehicle service to take part in a pilot program for self-driving taxi services that the British government is planning for next year. Testing is expected to start in the first half of 2026, the two companies said in social media posts.

Elon Musk, a déclaré dimanche que les robotsaxis de l'entreprise n'avaient pas été affectés par une panne d'électricité à San Francisco. "Les robotsaxis de Tesla n'ont pas été affectés par la panne de courant à San Francisco", a déclaré Elon Musk dans un post sur X.

L’incident, sans gravité et sans dommages humains et matériels, démontre s’il en était besoin que les véhicules autonomes n’en sont encore qu’à leurs débuts et qu’en cas d’imprévus, leur comportement n’est pas toujours à la hauteur de celui d’un conducteur humain. Du moins pas tant que cet imprévu n’a pas été intégré à leur système. C’est d’ailleurs la raison pour laquelle Elon Musk, concurrent de Waymo avec son système de Robotaxi chez Tesla, s’est empressé de tweeter que son service de voitures autonomes n’a pas été affecté par la panne d’électricité à San Francisco.

Ce samedi, San Francisco a été frappée par une panne d’électricité massive qui, selon Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a touché près de 130 000 clients. Cet événement a mis en relief un défi majeur rencontré par les taxis autonomes de Waymo, qui se positionnent comme les pionniers dans ce domaine : en cas de coupure de courant, les robotaxis se retrouvent immobilisés.

Un évènement d’une ampleur inédite a touché l’entreprise phare de robotaxis. Alors qu’une panne d’électricité massive a plongé une grande partie de San Francisco dans l’obscurité le samedi 20 décembre 2025, la flotte de taxis autonomes de Waymo a connu un échec technique retentissant et a obligé l’entreprise à suspendre ses services en urgence.

Tesla is rapidly expanding its supervised Robotaxi fleet in California's Bay Area, registering 1,655 vehicles and 798 drivers, up from 28 vehicles in August. The company recruits factory workers as AI operators amid regulatory hurdles and competition from Waymo. This push signals progress toward a 2025 unsupervised rollout.

Tesla is repurposing factory workers and sales staff into roles like AI operators and customer managers for its upcoming Robotaxi service, leveraging internal talent to cut costs and accelerate deployment amid regulatory and competitive challenges. This strategic shift highlights Elon Musk's efficiency-driven approach to autonomous mobility innovation.

General Motors (GM) today announced it will be rolling out support for the Apple Wallet app's digital car key feature, but it did not provide a timeframe or mention any specific vehicle models that will be compatible. GM has four main vehicle brands in the United States and Canada, including Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick.

Volkswagen has closed its Dresden plant, marking the first such shutdown in Germany in nearly 90 years, due to financial pressures, weak demand, EV transitions, Chinese competition, and US tariffs. This affects 35,000 jobs by 2030, with the site repurposed for AI and robotics research. The move signals broader challenges for Europe's auto sector.

In a recent interview, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe doubled down on his company’s decision to forgo Apple CarPlay, arguing that while the feature might benefit other automakers, it’s unnecessary for Rivian’s electric vehicles. This stance comes amid growing debates in the automotive sector about integrating smartphone ecosystems into car infotainment systems. Scaringe suggested that Rivian’s proprietary software provides a more seamless and integrated experience, one that aligns closely with the unique demands of electric vehicle ownership.

In the previous episode of Tina's Talk, we discussed the first installment of the "China's Auto Industry Going Global" series—why now is the right time for Chinese automakers to expand overseas. In this episode, we turn to a new triangle shaping the global automotive industry: Shanghai, Silicon Valley, and Munich.

While mass market car companies are pulling back from their original product and sales plans, and thoughtfully and relatively slowly moving forward, German luxury automakers are pressing forward with a sense of unprecedented urgency, not just in a bid to stabilize their market share, but in hopes of making gains.

Tesla is preparing for a convergence of automotive and space technology. According to a recent patent filing published on December 4, 2025, the electric vehicle giant is exploring ways to integrate satellite antennas—likely for SpaceX’s Starlink—directly into the roofs of its cars. The patent, titled “Vehicle Roof Assembly with Radio Frequency Transparent Material,” outlines a method to hide satellite receivers within the car’s structure without compromising aesthetics or aerodynamics.

The software-based solution leverages existing hardware to achieve noise reduction without requiring additional dampening materials or acoustic equipment. By utilizing ZF's Smart Chassis Sensor equipped with an integrated acceleration sensor, the system continuously monitors vibrations transmitted from tires through chassis elements including control arms and dampers.

Et si la voiture redevenait un vrai lieu de vie ? Avec son concept-car ELO, Citroën propose une vision radicalement différente de la mobilité électrique, en s’éloignant des SUV pour renouer avec l’esprit des monospaces intelligents. Compact à l’extérieur mais étonnamment généreux à l’intérieur, ce véhicule électrique à six places a été conçu comme un espace modulable, capable de s’adapter aux temps de repos, de loisirs et de travail.Pour donner corps à cette idée, Citroën s’est associé à Decathlon, dont l’ADN fonctionnel et accessible irrigue tout le projet. Ensemble, ils signent un concept qui ne cherche pas à impressionner par la performance pure, mais par l’usage, la simplicité et l’ingéniosité. Un manifeste roulant qui esquisse le futur de la marque.

Outre les batteries, la Chine a la mainmise sur l’industrie des terres rares, indispensables à la conception des voitures électriques. Et les constructeurs automobiles traditionnels ne veulent plus de cette dépendance, qui leur cause bien des soucis.

Waymo robotaxis are so safe that, according to the company’s data, its driverless vehicles are involved in 91 percent fewer crashes compared to human-operated vehicles. And yet the the company is bracing for the first time when a Waymo does kill somebody — a moment its CEO says society will accept, in exchange for access to its relatively safer driverless cars.