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Autonomous ride-hailing company May Mobility is merging with special purpose acquisition company ACP Holdings Acquisition Corp., a deal that could raise over $300 million and value the combined company at $1.4 billion. May Mobility says it will become the first U.S. public company focused solely on autonomous ride-hailing, distinguishing itself from broader autonomy players like Tesla, Waymo and Aurora.
Tesla's driverless Cybercab, now operating as part of its Robotaxi service, lacks a steering wheel and brake pedals, letting occupants recline their seats. Tesla's own rider guide warns passengers to keep seat backs within 35 degrees of vertical and feet flat on the floor to reduce injury risk in a crash, while safety researchers note that reclined seating already correlates with worse crash outcomes in conventional vehicles.
A Cybercab rider in Austin reported that a trip meant to take ten minutes stretched into a 70-minute ordeal, with the vehicle initially heading the wrong way before winding through east Austin. Electrek attributes the meandering routes to the fact that Tesla's robotaxis cannot yet use highways and operate only within a limited, pre-mapped geofenced zone, unlike Waymo which already drives on highways in some cities.
Waymo has started letting select members of the public hail rides from its self-driving fleet in Las Vegas, weeks after Nevada regulators granted final approval. The service launches with dozens of its new Ojai minivans covering part of the Strip and Boulder Junction, with riders needing an access code before wider rollout in coming months.
Lyft riders in Nashville can now be matched with a driverless Waymo vehicle through the Lyft app, or book directly through Waymo's own app. Lyft's subsidiary Flexdrive manages fleet readiness, maintenance, depot operations and infrastructure for the partnership, marking the first time Lyft has offered a fully driverless commercial ride without a safety operator behind the wheel.
Waymo's in-cabin sensors flagged two juvenile passengers handling a loaded AR-style firearm in San Francisco's Outer Richmond neighborhood, prompting the company to notify police. Officers conducted a high-risk stop early on September 3, arresting the pair and also finding suspected marijuana and mace spray in the vehicle.
A Waymo self-driving vehicle in San Francisco detected a firearm violation among its passengers and pulled over, prompting a call to police. Officers arrested two juvenile riders found with a loaded AR-style ghost gun and took them to juvenile hall. Waymo confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that its system flagged the terms-of-service breach involving a weapon before stopping the car.
Tesla vehicles branded as Cybercabs have appeared on New York City streets equipped with steering wheels and human drivers, a stark contrast to the pedal-free, wheel-free design Elon Musk showcased in 2024. Officials say the cars are running a 'supervised' self-driving system that requires a person ready to take control at any moment, and Tesla has not disclosed how many vehicles are involved or how long the testing will last. The company has also not applied for autonomous vehicle testing permits with New York's DMV, suggesting this is a data-gathering exercise rather than a service launch.
As Tesla's autonomous Cybercab vehicles begin appearing in cities including Austin, New York, Washington DC, and San Diego, several personal injury law firms are already publishing marketing material aimed at potential accident victims. Firms such as Sarofiem and Antoun, Funes Law, and Angel Reyes and Associates are positioning themselves to handle liability claims even though no confirmed Cybercab accidents have occurred yet.
Amazon-owned Zoox is offering free rides in a fleet of about 100 purpose-built robotaxis in San Francisco, using a Rider Lounge and partnerships with local restaurants and landmarks to build public awareness. The company still lacks permission to charge passengers in California, so it's using free trips to establish a presence against Waymo, which operates nearly 4,000 vehicles in the city.
Tesla has begun distributing a 'Robotaxi interest form' encouraging entrepreneurs to buy fleets of its two-seat Cybercab and share ride revenue with the company as it expands robotaxi operations in Austin. The push follows Elon Musk's long-standing claims that self-driving Tesla vehicles could become passive income machines for owners.
A video posted on X shows a Tesla Cybercab's central touchscreen switching into an undisclosed control mode featuring a virtual joystick, letting a person drag a finger to steer the vehicle. The rider said the display appeared in this unusual configuration unprompted, and the screen also showed door controls, a support button, and a camera feed that seemed to include non-live imagery from a previous location. Tesla has not acknowledged or explained this manual-driving interface publicly.