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We’re mixing things up a bit this week to focus on what was said on and off stage TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. In short, it was a blast with a number of high-profile executives and founders working on the future of transportation.
Here are a few: Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra MawakanaCEO of Slate Chris Barmanco-CEO and founder of Nuro Dave FergusonUber CPO Sahin Kansalfounder and CEO of Wayve Alex Kendalland the founder and CEO of Kodiak AI Don Burnett. Videos of these interviews will be posted on our YouTube channel next week.
THE Slate Auto interview with Sean O’Kane and Chris Barman is now available. If you watch it, pay attention to Barman’s comments about the accessories that can be added to any Slate EV. The startup will design, manufacture and sell accessories, but also share data so owners can make their own. And even to sell it to other owners.
“We’re going to make all the data information about it public, and anyone can 3D print their own,” Barman said. “So we also want people to not feel like they have to come to us. We want to create an ecosystem that sits on our Slate marketplace.”
O’Kane then asked if Slate would take a cut of these accessories if creators added them to the Slate market.
“Yes, we’ll get some money when we work with them,” he said, quickly adding that creators can sell elsewhere (and without Slate taking a cut). “If they wanted, they could choose to put it on Etsy. It’s their power to choose what they do. It’s not like we’re going to see them on us.”
Techcrunch event
San Francisco
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13-15 October 2026
Among other notable… mayor of San Francisco Daniel Lurie said he’s happy to have Waymo on the streets of SF and welcomed other companies to use the city as a test bed for autonomous vehicle technology. And with a focus on transportation Glīd was named the winner of Startup Battlefield 2025. Oh, and Sean O’Kane and I took a test ride on the streets of San Francisco in a Wayve vehicle.
In addition, Mawakana made a number of interesting comments on stage, including that he thinks other companies working on autonomous vehicles need to do more to prove their technology is safe, and that given the promise of greater safety, the public would accept a death caused by a robotaxi.
He also said that Waymo will go after people who vandalize its vehicles and that the company has denied government requests for video taken from its vehicles — adding that it will continue to deny those requests if they are “too extensive.”
Offers!
A company that developed digital fuel management for aviation, i6, raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Yttrium. International Airlines Group, World Kinect and Shell Ventures joined.
IntrCity SmartBusa tech-enabled intercity bus platform in India, has raised $30 million in funding to expand its network to smaller cities and towns in the South Asian nation. The full Series D round, led by A91 Partners, values the Noida-based startup at $140 million post-money.
Navanthe corporate travel and expenses platform, ended its first day of trading on the Nasdaq down 20% from its IPO price of $25, giving it a valuation of about $4.7 billion.
Pavewisea road construction technology startup, raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by C2 Ventures. Other investors included Connectic, Service Provider Capital, Geoff Judge, former Ryvit CEO Tom Stemm, M25, gener8tor 1889 and Broadwater Capital.
Ridepandaan e-bike and scooter fleet startup that provides subscriptions to companies, has grown 12.6 million dollars in a Series A funding round led by Germany’s Bikeleasing Group. Other investors included Blackhorn Ventures, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Proeza Ventures and Somersault Ventures.
Notable reads and other items
Dawn added a 600-mile driverless route from Fort Worth, Texas, to El Paso, the company’s second for its autonomous trucks. The company also revealed details about the next-generation hardware.
India, market BlaBlaCar once moved away from, now it is the largest.
General Motors is laying off thousands of workers at multiple electric vehicle and battery factories in the United States.
Illuminated is experiencing a new round of struggles since its board ousted founder and CEO Austin Russell. A new regulatory filing warns it will run out of cash in early 2026 and has announced a 25% cut in its workforce. The company also said its chief financial officer has left.
Nvidia made some transportation news this week, including a collaboration with Stellandis, Uber, and Foxconn to to jointly develop autonomous vehicles. The news was part of a wider announcement surrounding Nvidia’s new Drive the AGX Hyperion 10 autonomous vehicle development platform and Nvidia Drive software, which will be used by several automakers, suppliers and robotaxi companies. This list includes Clear, Mercedesand Stellandis. The platform is part of Uber’s goal to scale its global autonomous fleet to 100,000 vehicles over time, starting in 2027.
Wayve’s Alex Kendall told me backstage at TechCrunch Disrupt that he was really excited about Hyperion and that, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi,and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang have encouraged car manufacturers to use it. “What we’d like to see is more manufacturers building vehicles with the Hyperion architecture, because that unlocks everything we’re trying to do.”
Uber has chosen San Francisco to launch a premium robotaxi service that will use Lucid Motors’ all-electric Gravity SUVs equipped with self-driving technology developed by Nuro in 2026 – a move that puts the ride-hailing giant in direct competition with Waymo. Reminder: Uber partners with Waymo in other cities.
Waabi shared details of a new autonomous truck built in partnership with Volvo during TechCrunch Disrupt 2025.
One more thing…
In last week’s newsletter, we ran a poll delving into the issue of autonomous vehicle business models and asked: What is the best business model for “longer range” applications of autonomous vehicle technology?
I offered two options: Class 8 autonomous trucks that travel more than 500 miles on highways, or mid-mile delivery, which are autonomous trucks that travel between warehouses and distribution centers.
Readers, you overwhelmingly chose the big rig option with 62.5% of the vote. (Remember, if you want to take part in our polls, sign up for the Mobility newsletter here.)
Let me leave you with one more shot. This photo, by me and the senior reporter Sean O’Kaneit’s a full circle moment for us. O’Kane, with a little help from me, spent months working on a big scoop on how Jeff Bezos he was backing a little-known startup called Slate. Since then, Slate has shared its plans to build a cheaper electric truck and received a lot of attention for it.
Slate CEO Chris Barman not only came to our stage for an interview, but he also brought a truckload wrapped with TechCrunch.
