This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk preview Tesla’s upcoming FSD robotaxi launch, Waymo’s continued interest in personally-owned autonomous vehicles and Aurora’s stumbles.

As we approach June, all eyes are on Austin in anticipation of Tesla’s highly awaited robotaxi launch. With real-world testing already underway, Tesla is taking a measured yet impactful approach by prioritizing safety.

Meanwhile, Waymo has surpassed 10 million paid rides and is signaling a strategic expansion into personally-owned autonomous vehicles.

On the freight side of autonomy, the autonomous trucking market is heating up, even as Aurora stumbles. After successfully launching driver-out commercial operations in April, Aurora was forced by its OEM partner, PACCAR to reinstate a safety driver behind the wheel, raising questions about the strength of the partnership and the company’s near-term trajectory.

Aurora’s recent stumbles come just as Waymo is re-evaluating a potential return to the autonomous trucking industry, as investors are closely monitoring how these shifting dynamics could reshape the market.

Episode Chapters

0:00 Autonomy Markets On The Road

1:12 Tesla Model Y

3:08 Tesla’s Upcoming Robotaxi Launch

9:02 Managing Vehicles on the Tesla Network

10:57 Tesla’s Competitive Threat to Uber

14:35 Waymo: 10 Million Paid Rides and Counting

16:01 Waymo at Google I/O

20:33 Waymo’s Multi-Deployment Strategy

23:30 Licensing Tesla FSD

25:33 Nuro

27:45 Aurora Goes Back to Driver-In

34:08 Is Waymo Going Back into Trucking?

35:21 Is Waymo Feeling Pressure from Tesla?

37:31 China

40:21 National Autonomous Vehicle Framework

42:07 Unforced Error of The Week / Next Week

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Tesla's FSD Robotaxi Launch Preview, Waymo’s AI and Ownership Vision, Aurora Stumbles as Autonomous

Autonomy Markets

Tesla's FSD Robotaxi Launch Preview, Waymo’s AI and Ownership Vision, Aurora Stumbles as Autonomous