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I’m back from vacation. What did I miss? Turns out, quite a few — including the end of it Uber-Waymo partnership in Phoenix. Uber and Waymo still have robotaxi service partnerships in Atlanta and Austin. The question is not ifbut when will these deals end? But that’s not the most interesting question, in my opinion. I’m much more intrigued to see how these two companies will fare when the rest of the partnerships are over.
There’s already tension with Uber executives taking not-so-subtle shots at Waymo. I expect that once the collaborations are over, these thin bars will be replaced with more immediate action. One battleground will be politics, especially the markets where robotaxi companies are trying to gain access.
This week, we saw another interesting development in the autonomous vehicle industry on the federal stage. National Road Safety Agency manager Jonathan Morrison issued a directive to autonomous vehicle manufacturers, stating that it is unacceptable for their vehicles to interfere with first responders or law enforcement.
Money’s quote: “Let me be clear: the failure to detect and respond appropriately to such situations represents a functional inadequacy. Emergency scenes are not rare or extreme ‘peak cases’. Therefore, NHTSA is issuing a call to action today for AV developers and operators to immediately focus their resources on solving this problem.”
Morrison’s letter never calls out any robotaxi company and was sent to every AV developer listed at the Department for Transport Standing General Order. But it certainly appears that Morrison is directing the agency’s ire at Waymo.
A previous TechCrunch investigation found that Waymo — which operates the largest fleet of robo-taxis in the United States, with vehicles in cities including Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco — had repeated run-ins with first responders. And just this week, San Francisco supervisor Bilal Mahmood he said he intends to submit a letter of inquiry to examine how self-driving vehicles affected public transit services and emergency responders after a July 4th fireworks display led to massive gridlock. The local news media reported it Several Waymo robots had to be towed after the power went out during the heavy traffic jam.
Morrison’s letter carries weight. But will there be any meaningful consequences for AV developers? It’s hard to say at this point. For now, NHTSA has asked the companies to present the agency with “solutions” by the end of the month.
One more news from the federations. Check out the new one Regulatory Plan 2026 and Unified Programwhich was updated last week. It contains a long list of proposed changes to the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), which govern vehicle design and equipment requirements. These proposed changes could help autonomous vehicle companies such as Tesla and Zooxwhich develop vehicles without steering wheels, pedals or other features required in human-driven cars.
A little bird
Do you have a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07 or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.
Offers!
We usually focus on business deals, but this week I wanted to highlight Rivian and the sale of 86.25 million shares of Class A common stock at a price of $15.50 each (which includes an additional 11.25 million in additional shares that the underwriters elected to purchase).
Overall, Rivian said it expects it raised $1.32 billion in a new capital. The increase comes at a notable time for the EV maker. The company began delivering its new R2 SUV last month and recently raised its sales forecast for 2026. The company said it now expects to deliver between 65,000 and 70,000 vehicles after beating its own expectations in the second quarter due to strong quarter-on-quarter growth in EDV and R1 deliveries, combined with R2 deliveries in the market.
The company did not explain the reason for the increase. But as a reminder, Rivian isn’t profitable yet, and scaling up production of the R2 — or any vehicle for that matter — isn’t cheap!
Other offers that caught my eye…
Bidbusa Los Angeles-based startup that created a digital marketplace where multiple dealers can bid on a car has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Ibex Investors. Mucker Capital, FJ Labs, Motley Fool Ventures, Data Point Capital, Walter Ventures and Yossi Levi of Car Dealership Guy also participated.
Lyft he said he plans to get Serveo’s bike sharing business in Spain. Terms were not disclosed, but the ride-hailing company said it expects to close this year.
TaiSana UK battery startup, raised £4.65m in a seed funding round, led by Eos Advisory and Midlands Engine Investment Fund II. Also participating were InnoEnergy, AFI Ventures, EverQuest Capital Partners, Exergon, Heartfelt Ventures, Adeline Arts & Science, Techmind, angel investor François Badelon and matching funding from Innovate UK.
Notable reads and other items
AssuranceAmericaa US insurance provider has confirmed a data breach that affected the personal information and driver’s license numbers of 6.9 million people, making it the largest known leak of Americans’ driver’s license information this year.
Beta Technologieselectric vehicle takeoff and landing scheduler, complete business flights conducted under the US Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration’s new eVTOL integration pilot program. The flights covered approximately 275 nautical miles covering Virginia and Maryland.
His longtime fans Tesla will remember the heady days when Elon Musk fought various short sellers of the company’s shares. Musk is more polarizing than ever, and one ETF maker has found a way to capitalize on that negative sentiment with two new funds that trade against Elon.
GM The Chevrolet brand has built an all-American EV truck. Senior reporter Tim De Chant asks: Why isn’t anyone buying it?
Manna Aerothe Irish-based autonomous drone delivery startup is scaling up in the United States with a factory and operations center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which it says will employ 1,000 people in the coming years.
Slate Auto collaborated with Crayola to offer its customers for trucks and SUV vehicles in five lipstick colors. (Note: The base Slate EV isn’t painted. Instead, it comes in gray composite that can be customized with a vehicle wrap. The company has hundreds of options to choose from.)
One more thing…
TechCrunch podcast Construction mode It just released its third season, and it’s incredible. Build Mode is hosted by Isabelle Johannessen, who leads TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield program. Unlike Equity — the TC podcast I co-host with Anthony Ha and Sean O’Kane — Build Mode is designed to help early-stage founders.
The new season starts with Forerunner Enterprises founder and managing partner Charles Hudsonwho talks about what early-stage founders need to know before launching their first institutional round.
Check it out: The New Rules of Early Fundraising with Charles Hudson.
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