The Road to Autonomy?

This Week in The Autonomy Economy presented by Koop [LinkedIn Edition], The Road to Autonomy Index declined 1.79%, we visited with May Mobility in Ann Arbor, MI, Wayve is on the cusp of their ChatGPT moment and Waymo expanded service to Silicon Valley.?

Enhanced Inspections: How CVSA is Revolutionizing Safety Standards for Autonomous Trucks Adrienne Gildea, Deputy Executive Director,?Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance joined Grayson Brulte on?The Road to Autonomy?podcast to discuss how CVSA developed enhanced inspections and the positive impact that they will have on roadway safety. ?? Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gZBsF8pF ?? Listen/Watch on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gFBZ83eR ?? Watch on X: https://lnkd.in/g5YrHkBM ?? Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gix7Ndyx #RoadToAutonomy #AutonomyEconomy #AutonomousTrucks #Safety

Wayve’s ChatGPT Moment Is On The Horizon This Week in The Autonomy Economy presented by Koop,?The Road to Autonomy Index?declined 1.79%, we visited with May Mobility in Ann Arbor, MI, Wayve is on the cusp of their ChatGPT moment and Waymo expanded service to Silicon Valley. Our visit with May Mobility was insightful. As part of our visit we went on a?40 minute fully autonomous (no safety driver) ride?around Ann Arbor with Founder Edwin Olson, toured their manufacturing facility, and met with the operations team. We came away from our meetings and ride impressed. May Mobility’s strategic relationship with Toyota Motor Corporation gives them a very clear path to scaling. If everything lines up, May Mobility will become a significant player in the robotaxi market over the coming years. Later this year, May Mobility will launch service on Lyft in Atlanta, a major milestone for the company. By 2026, we expect May Mobility to expand to additional cities on the Lyft platform. Lyft, for its part, has a clear path to scale robotaxis without having to own the asset (robotaxis) by leveraging May Mobility’s relationship with Toyota Financial Services Corporation. As robotaxis scale, the model of who owns and maintains the asset will become increasingly strategic. If a private equity firm swoops in and acquires the assets (robotaxi fleets) and maintenance operations, the power dynamic will shift further putting Lyft and Uber at a strategic disadvantage as robotaxis scale. To avoid being squeezed out of the market, Lyft and Uber have to seed fragmentation in the market. Without fragmentation in the market, both companies have a limited path to succeeding in autonomy over the long-term. Alternatively, Lyft and Uber could vertically integrate by acquiring an autonomous vehicle company. Uber has the balance sheet, but their current strategy is focused on being a platform rather than an owner/operator. Lyft’s balance sheet could not support such a move, but Amazon’s could. Could Amazon change the game by acquiring Lyft? It’s possible as Amazon needs a credible autonomy strategy. If Amazon were to acquire Lyft, they could fold it into a mobility division alongside Zoox and perhaps another AV company to salvage Zoox’s potential. Anything is possible, but one thing is clear. If Amazon wants to be a credible player in the future of autonomy they have to make a move. Andy Jassy, the floor is yours. These stories and more in This Week in The Autonomy Economy. Read and subscribe today: https://lnkd.in/eX9MqNse #RoadToAutonomy #AutonomyEconomy

California’s Economy Needs Waymo at Airports, Could Apple Surpass Amazon in Autonomy? May Mobility, an Undiscovered Gem This week on?Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo's Bay Area expansion and what it means for the great highway and airport unlocks, our visit to?May Mobility in Ann Arbor and Amazon's struggles with Zoox. ?? Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/ehbTZ5fr ?? Listen/Watch on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e3VMbm_n ?? Watch on X: https://lnkd.in/e7hfT2Ws ?? Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eEghjUg6 #RoadToAutonomy #AutonomyMarkets #AutonomyEconomy #Waymo

This Week in The Autonomy Economy [LinkedIn Edition] presented by Koop, The Road to Autonomy Index?declined 0.67%, Waymo launched exclusively on Uber in Austin, Bot Auto is preparing for commercial driver-out operations and Wayve expanded to Germany.?

Applied Intuition’s Next Frontier: Revolutionizing Defense with All-Domain Autonomy Peter Ludwig, CTO & Co-Founder and?Jason Brown, General Manager-Government,?Applied Intuition joined Grayson Brulte on?The Road to Autonomy?podcast to discuss the company’s acquisition of EpiSci (an Applied Intuition company) and how they are developing all-domain autonomy solutions for defense applications. ?? Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/dys8FWPx ?? Listen/Watch on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/d5R3Ddxv ?? Watch on X: https://lnkd.in/dBM4zKwW ?? Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/du8UKnyb #RoadToAutonomy #AutonomyEconomy #Defense

Waymo Launches on Uber in Austin This Week in The Autonomy Economy presented by Koop, The Road to Autonomy Index?declined 0.67%, Waymo launched exclusively on Uber in Austin, Bot Auto is preparing for commercial driver-out operations and Wayve expanded to Germany. Despite a broader market sell-off driven by tariff uncertainty and escalating political tensions in Europe, the autonomy economy continues to?chug ahead. Despite, geopolitical uncertainties, Wayve has expanded to Germany and opened a new development hub in the Stuttgart region of Germany. This expansion will allow?Wayve?to test its autonomous driving stack on Germany’s high-speed Autobahns, dense urban environments, and across challenging winter road conditions. We have been very bullish on Wayve and we remain bullish. What Alex Kendall and the team at Wayve are building could usher in the next era of?autonomy—licensing. It is only a matter of time before Wayve announces an OEM licensing deal. Could it be with Porsche AG or Mercedes-Benz AG? Both are headquartered in Stuttgart and both need a new autonomous driving solution. Wayve could fill this void by offering a world-class autonomous driving platform to automakers in search of a competitive edge. Sure, the Porsche purists might bristle at the idea of a 911 that can drive itself. But the broader public won’t. Sometimes you want to drive, other times you want to ride. This is the future and it’s coming faster than most realize. While we don’t expect Porsche’s iconic 911 to be first in line, it’s likely just a matter of time. More realistically, Porsche’s initial focus will be on integrating autonomous driving into its Macan and Cayenne SUVs. It’s worth remembering the Cayenne effectively saved Porsche from financial ruin in the early-90’s. At the time, sales were plummeting and the company was hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The Cayenne reversed that trajectory and?ignited?a sales increase. Today, Porsche finds itself in a different but equally precarious position. Porsche vehicle sales are declining, 90+ day auto loan delinquencies are rising, and?the U.S. is facing the risk of a recession.?Porsche needs a new “Project Colorado". But this time, instead of?collaborating?with Volkswagen, they should partner with Wayve and autonomously drive into the future. These stories and more in This Week in The Autonomy Economy. Read and subscribe today: https://lnkd.in/esp9-bqp #RoadToAutonomy #AutonomyEconomy

Waymo’s Missing Tier, Uber and Lyft Keep Rides Moving and Hyundai’s Robotaxi Push This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discus Waymo's launch in Austin, Alphabet Inc.'s strong commitment to Waymo and Hyundai Motor Company (?????)'s robotaxi ambitions. ?? Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/epEEahKC ?? Listen/Watch on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/esFD2_5V ?? Watch on X: https://lnkd.in/emMTV_-3 ?? Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eJWFH7XJ #RoadToAutonomy #AutonomyMarkets #AutonomyEconomy

This Week in The Autonomy Economy presented by Koop [LinkedIn Edition], The Road to Autonomy Index?declined 1.26%, Waymo surpassed 200,00 weekly paid rides, Tesla is preparing to launch a robotaxi service in California and NVIDIA's automotive and robotics revenue grew 103% year-over-year driven by sales of self-driving platforms.

Energy Revolution: How Texas is Driving Global Oil, Gas, and AI Innovation Each quarter Dean Foreman, Ph.D., Chief Economist, Texas Oil & Gas Association joins Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy Autonomy Economy podcast to discuss his quarterly outlook for the oil and natural gas markets, along with this U.S. economy. Consumer debt in the U.S. is rising and that could have potential impacts on GDP. While the economic picture in the U.S. is uncertain at the moment, global oil demand is projected to reach 104.1 million barrels per day this year. Demand is partly being driven by emerging markets. Interested in the oil and natural gas markets? It's a great listen with lots of economic insights. ?? Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/dRFxwG8z ?? Listen/Watch on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/dPAaU3SH ?? Watch on X: https://lnkd.in/dMd94cWM ?? Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/dDskHYNK #RoadToAutonomy #AutonomyEconomy #OilGas