Latest news, developments and reporting on Autonomous Driving.
Tesla reported third-quarter deliveries of 486,532 vehicles, down 2.1% from a year earlier but above analyst estimates, while Rivian set a sales record and Ford narrowly kept its No. 3 U.S. sales position over Hyundai.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring robotaxi operators to provide local support, use U.S.-based remote drivers and face fines if an AV blocks first responders for more than 30 minutes. It takes effect in July 2028.
A workshop in Sweden brought researchers and industry figures together to consider how robotaxi design could discourage sexual activity, after reports of riders having sex in driverless cars and incidents involving Tesla, Cruise and Waymo.
A year after Tesla’s Master Plan IV, Musk still offers broad promises, not a clear definition, of ‘amazing abundance.’
Aito opened presales for the new M8 on Sept. 30 at 389,800 yuan, according to ifanr. The model is the first Aito car to reach presales after Seres and Huawei changed their cooperation model, with Seres leading marketing and Huawei Terminal providing support.
Tech workers in San Francisco calling themselves DrivingBench connected GPT-6 Astra, Claude Fable 5.1, Grok 4.6 and GPT-5.6 Sol to a Toyota Corolla and let them steer, accelerate and brake on a cone course. Only GPT-6 Astra completed it, according to a Slashdot report citing 404 Media.
Tesla secured $30B in credit lines from Citibank and Wells Fargo to help scale the Cybercab, Optimus, and Semi.
NHTSA probes Comma after five crashes involving its aftermarket self-driving devices, two reportedly fatal, with three deaths.
Dongfeng and Huawei's Yijing launched the X9 six-seat SUV in Guangzhou with four variants, a limited-time price from RMB 279,800, and Huawei's latest smart cockpit, driving and safety systems.
Huawei Senior Vice President and Yinwang CEO Jin Yuzhi said after the Mengshi X700 pre-sale event that Huawei's Qiankun intelligent driving R&D budget has been raised from 18 billion yuan to more than 19 billion yuan, as he argued against full in-house development by automakers.
Aurora CFO defends 2030 goal of 30,000 driverless trucks and $5 billion in revenue as shares slide.
Zhijie RX launched from 259,800 yuan; IM LS6 from 197,900 yuan, adding two electric SUVs to China's market.
Honda has reaffirmed its intelligent driving partnership with Momenta and said the technology will enter models starting in 2027. Momenta remains the only high-level intelligent driving supplier among Honda’s showcased Chinese technology partners, while Huawei provides smart cockpit functions.
IM Motors launched the new-generation LS6 on Sept. 23 with steer-by-wire standard, bringing an aviation-derived technology to the 200,000-yuan market. Orders exceeded 11,000 in 57 minutes, according to Leiphone.
Waymo says 271 million miles saw 82% fewer injury-causing crashes and 95% fewer serious-injury crashes.
TechCrunch reports Wayve's Mercedes-Benz partnership, Waymo's Texas fleet growth, Aurora's 2030 truck target, Zoox's Atlanta test suspension and a wave of transport IPOs.
Waymo now runs paid robotaxi service in 15 U.S. cities and averages 500,000 weekly rides, but about 80% of its roughly 4,000 vehicles are in California and Texas, where the new Ojai minivan is accelerating fleet growth.
Tesla opens first high-volume Semi truck plant in Nevada, aiming to scale electric heavy-truck output and self-driving.
Shield AI, Waabi and General Motors leaders will discuss safety, testing and trust in autonomous systems at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
Waymo said its driverless vehicles recorded 82 percent fewer injury-causing crashes than human drivers over 271 million driverless miles in five U.S. cities, while researchers and critics question self-reported data and current safety monitoring.
According to QbitAI, NIO and USTC researchers, with Ren Shaoqing as corresponding author, propose MM-Future, a multi-mode world-action model for autonomous driving planning that generates paired scene-action hypotheses.
IM Motors launched the new-generation LS6 on September 23, 2026, starting at 197,900 yuan with a full line-control chassis standard across all variants. Leiphone.com reported orders exceeded 11,000 in 57 minutes.
On Sept. 24, 2026, Dongfeng-Huawei's Yijing brand launched the X9, a large six-seat SUV with Huawei Qiankun technology, starting at 289,800 yuan. A day earlier, Jetour opened pre-sale for the Traveler 7, offering gasoline and C-DM plug-in hybrid versions from 149,900 yuan.
CNBC Pro contributor Mike Khouw wrote that Tesla's Oct. 1 Roadster reveal, low one-month implied volatility and coming catalysts may create an options opportunity, with a defined-risk call spread as his preferred trade.