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Remember last week when Dawn Did you meet an important milestone-just to stumble from his own deadline-and started a self-driver’s self-guiding service? Welp, this week Aurora made headlines again, but for a stunning change in leadership.
Co -founder Anderson AndersonHe is also in charge of the product, resigns and the Board of Directors. No real word about what caused his resignation, beyond some comments he made during the company’s Q1 profits. “Aurora exit is one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made, especially given the exciting Aurora scene,” he said. “That’s exactly what gave me the confidence that now is the right time.”
He did not say exactly where he was going, nor, except that it would be a “fascinating external opportunity in a higher leading role in a virtual world company”.
I will let you all place your bets.
Aurora is pushing without Anderson. The company announced during its profits that it would start sending self-guiding trucks out at night and during adverse weather conditions such as rain or heavy wind until the second half of 2025.
A little bird
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It is not every day a public company reverses the lesson and goes private. But again, these are not normal times. Especially for any company trapped in the US-China trade war.
Take Zeekrfor example. A year ago, Chinese EV made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Now, parent company Geely Auto He wants to get Zeekr private in response to the idea of ​​Trump’s administration to kick Chinese companies from US stock markets.
Other agreements that received my attention …
Bosch ventures It has a new $ 270 million fund that will continue the surrender of investment to deep technology newly established companies. Chief executive Ingo ramesohl He told TechCrunch that the plan is to put more than his money in newly established North America.
Investors who previously supported the Indian opponent Blusmart They have proposed a plan to inject another $ 30 million to the cabin racing start, which stopped businesses abruptly last month. But there is an catch.
BreatheA battery software boot brought $ 21 million in a round of B series, led by Kinnevik Online AB, the company told TechCrunch exclusively. Capital Capital and Volvo Cars Tech Fund participated.
Mosquito net announced two major acquisitions as it expands to Europe. The company agreed to buy its opponent in the UK Recipient for about £ 2.9 billion (about $ 3.87 billion) and separately stated that he buys Seven rooms – which provides CRM software, marketing and operation to help restaurants, hotels and public places with reservations and visitors’ management – for cash $ 1.2 billion.
Meantime, Bery He was busy this week, acquiring companies and investing in them.
Uber increased its investment in the Chinese autonomous Weride by $ 100 million as part of an expanded partnership agreement to bring the service to another 15 cities over the next five years. In a separate deal, Uber also acquired an 85% share share The modern is goingThe online meal and grocery stores in Istanbul for about $ 700 million in cash.
Notable reading and other tidbits
Autonomous vehicles
Here is a staff switch I didn’t expect. MorsenauThe former president and CTO of car self-guidance company now shaped CruiseIt was simply named Telehealth and Wellness Company’s head of technology Hims & Hiss. I talked to his co -founder and chief executive Andrew dudumAnd he said that he was specifically focused on the AV industry to find the next CTO. Here why.
Neuroture has begun to test AV technology at Las Vegas. I recently sat down with co -founder and President Dave Ferguson. Stay tuned for an information on why the company shifted its business model.
TeslaThe brands “Robotaxi” and “Cybercab” have hit some barricades. THE US Patent and Trademark Office He refused Tesla’s attempt to climb the term “Robotaxi” in relation to his vehicles because it is very general. Meanwhile, Tesla applications for the trademark for the term “cybercab” have stopped due to companies seeking similar brands “Cyber”.
Bery Locked partnerships with three Chinese autonomous vehicles – Pony AI; Instantaneously; WERIDE – In an attempt to overcome the market share of the Robot in the Middle East and Europe. Footnote: These agreements should not work in China.
Diameter It was announced that it has a new 239,000-square-foot plant in Mesa’s Phoenix suburb through an agreement with Magna to build more than 2,000 Jaguar I-Pace vehicles. This apparently got a lot of attention. But I was more interested in finally learning the size of the existing Waymo commercial fleet, which is now 1,500.
Very makes the rounds in the high profile executive set. You may remember Bill Gates video in one of Wayve’s autonomous test vehicles. Now he is founder of Virgin Group Sir Richard Branson’s series. PS Branson is an investor Wayve. Btw, Luck held the AI ​​conference in London and the CEO and co -founder of Wayve Alex Kendall He was there. Had Some interesting comments About the end to the end of the company and Elon Musk of Tesla.
Zoox Stopping the driver -free test program for more than a week and issued a voluntary recall of his software after a crash in Las Vegas.
Electric vehicles, charging and batteries
THE Cadillac Celestiq EV – Yes, this monster – it’s here, and the Emme Hall contributors has thoughts after a day behind the wheel.
It is the season of profits and the US-China trade war begins to leave a zero in the color of automakers everywhere. And, well, I don’t think we will be able to overcome it.
Passage and General engine He pulled their guidance for the year, referring to the financial uncertainty associated with Trump’s invoices. Meantime, Rivia He said he would probably deliver fewer vehicles this year (40,000 to 46,000 EVs) than previously provided for invoices and other regulatory changes. Reminder: The company already watched for its third consecutive year without increasing the volume before the guidance cut. There was some good news for Rivian, but: it created a mixed gain (yes I know, the gross profit is not exactly my favorite). But this met with a conventional milestone that unlocks about $ 1 billion in funding from the Volkswagen Group as part of a consortium with the German car industry.
Passage Increases the price of Electric Mustang Mach-e SUV and Maverick Pickup by $ 2,000 due to Trump Import Taxes Places the vehicles manufactured in Mexico.
Clear engines He works through some quality “hiccups” in the early stages of the tradition of the long -awaited electric gravity SUV.
Mitsubishi motors are in conversations with Fox To supply an electric car model, the Japanese automaker plans to sell to Australia and New Zealand in the second half of 2026.
Tesla Sales continue to decline throughout Europe, despite the sales of April EV.
Future of flight
Aircraft Appears to be installed in 2026 for the first commercial passenger service, according to the First quarter profit report. Electric vertical take-off and launching-SPAC targets in 2025, then declares “in early 2026.” Now it is only 2026, which suggests that it may not be at the beginning of next year.
