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Elon Musk hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with regulators, often clashing with or bypassing local and state regulations where his many businesses operate.
This week has been notably active on the regulatory side.
Nevada regulators have accused Musk’s tunneling and infrastructure company, The Boring Company, of almost 800 violations. These include unauthorized digging, releasing untreated water onto city streets, not installing silt fences, and tracking construction site dirt onto nearby roads, according to a ProPublica investigation.
Then there’s Tesla, facing enforcement from California’s Department of Insurance for repeatedly denying or delaying customer claims after years of warnings from the state regulator. Reminder: Tesla acts as an insurance provider in some states.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also focusing on Tesla again. The agency has launched an investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology following reports that the software caused vehicles to run red lights or veer into incorrect lanes.
The NHTSA has previously investigated Tesla. However, this investigation is significant as it specifically targets Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver-assistance software. Musk, along with Tesla shareholders, has staked the company’s future on its ability to lead in autonomous vehicle technology, as well as in robotics and AI.
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While this single investigation is unlikely to halt Tesla’s plans, the company recently released the latest version of FSD (v14). It does, however, represent increased scrutiny on the technology Tesla is pushing to the forefront and raises concerns about its robotaxis, which utilize a version of its FSD software.
A little bird
A Wired article from July revealed that General Motors had repurposed some Chevy Bolt EVs that were previously part of the discontinued Cruise robotaxi program. They were being driven on specific highways in Michigan near Austin, Texas, and the San Francisco Bay Area to create simulation models and new driver-assistance technology.
It now appears that General Motors may be advancing its autonomous vehicle development in potentially unexpected ways. When GM took over Cruise in December 2024, it stated it would combine Cruise’s technology with its ADAS efforts to develop fully autonomous personal vehicles.
We are hearing rumors that GM is expanding an AV team across Austin and Mountain View. This follows GM’s recent rehiring of laid-off Cruise employees, according to Bloomberg.
We’re looking into this, so please reach out if you have any information.
Do you have a tip for us? Contact Kirsten Korosec at [email protected] or via Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at [email protected].
Deals!
Joby Aviation raised approximately $514 million by selling 30.5 million shares. The company stated that these funds will be used for certification and manufacturing, preparations for commercial operations, general working capital, and other corporate purposes. The company intends to begin passenger flights in its electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft in Dubai in 2026, followed by the United States.
However, investors didn’t respond very well, as shares were sold at a discount of $16.85 each, which is almost 11% lower than the previous closing price.
Other deals that caught my eye this week …
I overlooked this one last week. Futurail, a European startup creating an autonomy stack for self-driving trains, secured €7.5 million in seed funding co-led by Asterion Ventures and Leap435, with contributions from EIT Urban Mobility and U.S. investors Zero Infinity Partners and Heroic Ventures. On a related note, I co-host a podcast called The Autonocast, and we recently featured Alex Haag, the CEO and co-founder of Futurail, on the show. Check it out.
Nexcade, a London-based startup building end-to-end automation for freight forwarders, raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed round led by Connect Ventures. MMC Ventures, Entropy Industrial Capital, and Inovia also participated.
Toyota and Metal Mining have agreed to collaborate on the mass production of cathode materials for all-solid-state batteries, which will be used in battery electric vehicles.
Tycho AI, a startup focused on autonomous drone navigation, raised $10 million in a Series A round led by FirstMark.
Utilimarc, a fleet analytics and benchmarking company based in Minneapolis, has been acquired by Smith System. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Notable reads and other tidbits
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill granting Uber and Lyft drivers in the state the right to unionize as independent contractors.
Just last week, we highlighted DoorDash’s initiative to create its own autonomous delivery robot. However, this internal program doesn’t preclude the company from forming external partnerships. DoorDash and Serve Robotics have announced a multi-year partnership to use autonomous robots for deliveries across the United States.
Lucid reported a record number of EV deliveries in the third quarter. While still far from the projections shared during its public offering, the recent sales report indicates progress.
Lyft has secured another AV partnership — this time with Tensor Auto. The companies plan to deploy robotaxis in Europe and North America starting in 2027. Tensor Auto may be unfamiliar, but Chinese robotaxi company AutoX might ring a bell. Tensor Auto originated from AutoX, although the San Jose-based company has informed TechCrunch that AutoX’s Chinese operations have been completely divested.
Transportation includes infrastructure such as bridges. Climate tech reporter Tim De Chant examined Allium Engineering, a startup developing ultra-thin stainless steel that could revolutionize bridge construction.
Tesla unveiled stripped-down versions of the Model 3 and Model Y, starting at $36,990 and $39,990, respectively. These “standard” versions are quite basic. Senior reporter Sean O’Kane provides further details here.
A few points stood out to me. Firstly, I was surprised that this standard version doesn’t include Autopilot. Also, Tesla is renowned for its innovation, from its manufacturing processes and software-first approach to its business model. However, this wasn’t an act of innovation or cleverness. It was simply a matter of stripping things away, and the result wasn’t the significant discounts that had been previously discussed. Let’s not forget that Elon Musk once promoted a $25,000 vehicle, a project that was later abandoned.
Zero Motorcycles has moved its core operations from California to a new European headquarters in the Netherlands. The company told TechCrunch that this move is aimed at accelerating growth and increasing focus on global opportunities.
One more thing …
If you’re in San Francisco later this month, feel free to say hello. I’ll be at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, which is being held from October 27 to October 29 at Moscone West. There are also a few transportation-related discussions you won’t want to miss.
For example, TechCrunch will be interviewing Uber’s chief product officer, Sachin Kansal, and Nuro’s co-founder and president, Dave Ferguson, about the changing relationship between AI and mobility. The discussion is expected to cover how predictive models and computer vision are enhancing road safety, why last-mile delivery is a proving ground for autonomy, and what’s needed to scale AI-driven transportation.
