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Tech News
Aurora Innovation is running fully autonomous semi trucks without safety drivers on two of the busiest freight corridors in Texas, I-45 between Houston and Dallas and I-20 between Fort Worth and El Paso. The company currently operates 20 driverless trucks and plans to expand to 200 by the end of the year, betting on a pay-per-mile 'driver as a service' model for freight customers.
As robotaxis from multiple companies expand on public roads, firefighters, police and paramedics face a growing patchwork of different manufacturer-specific procedures, hotlines and access methods for handling incidents involving autonomous vehicles. Tesla's two-door Cybercab, which has no steering wheel and is built for full autonomy, highlights this gap since it lacks conventional controls first responders might expect to use in emergencies.
Academics led by Eindhoven University's Pavlo Bazilinskyy are hosting an industry workshop this week focused on deterring passengers from having sex in autonomous vehicles, which lack a human driver to enforce norms. The team, drawing from systems engineering, psychology and tourism studies, is using the topic to explore broader questions about behavior and design in shared robotaxi spaces.
Wayve, the self-driving software startup valued at roughly $8.5 billion, has named Elisa de Martel as its new chief financial officer. De Martel spent 2022 to January 2026 as Waymo's CFO, overseeing a period when the Alphabet unit expanded commercial operations and raised $5.6 billion at a $45 billion-plus valuation. She replaces Max Warburton, who is shifting to a strategic advisory role at Wayve.
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.
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.
Austin Fire Department Chief Matthew McElearney told NBC that Tesla's Cybercab, which relies on a touchscreen instead of a steering wheel for manual control, could hinder first responders trying to move the vehicle during emergencies. He noted the touchscreen requires power, training, and precision, which may not be feasible if responders are wearing gloves, covered in dust or sweat, or if the car is damaged.
As autonomous vehicles spread, the article argues they will standardize driving behavior that has long varied dramatically by region—from aggressive New York drivers to Cairo's horn-based communication system to Jakarta's informal traffic-conductor tipping rituals. These local driving cultures, shaped by decades of human adaptation to specific urban conditions, could disappear as algorithmic driving replaces human judgment.
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 Tesla Cybercab rider in Austin, Matthew Skrzypczak, found his in-car screen glitch into a hidden interface featuring camera feeds and a touchscreen joystick for shifting the vehicle forward and reverse. He managed to close the door and honk the horn but couldn't get the car to move using the joystick, possibly due to user error. Tesla has not explained why a passenger was able to access what appears to be a feature meant for employees or emergency responders.
Rivian is rolling out Autonomy+, a semiautonomous system that lets drivers enter a destination and let the SUV navigate suburban streets, traffic lights, crosswalks and stop signs on its own across the US and Canada. The feature will debut on the upcoming R2 SUV by year's end and reach existing R1S and R1T owners via over-the-air software updates, priced at $49.99 monthly or $2,500 upfront.
A Tesla Model 3 ran a stop sign in Buena Vista Township, New Jersey on July 6, 2025, striking a Honda Civic and killing its 82-year-old driver, Stephen Field. Local police described it as an ordinary failure-to-stop crash, but Tesla's own federal safety filing shows its driver-assist system was 'Verified Engaged' at the time, a detail Tesla redacted key details about, including the crash narrative and software version.