Autonomy Markets

This week on Autonomy Markets , Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Tesla 's unsupervised robotaxi launch in Miami, Waymo preparing to bring four new markets online, and NHTSA Administrator Morrison's letter to autonomous vehicle operators. On July 3rd, Tesla launched unsupervised robotaxi in Miami, their first market outside of Texas and California. We were there on the ground conduc...

This week on Autonomy Markets , Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss the end of Waymo and Uber's partnership in Phoenix, Tesla's Cybercab hitting the streets of Austin branded for America 250 and Waymo's "Because they're everything" World Cup campaign. As Tesla gets closer and closer to putting the Cybercab into service, the U.S. Government is inching toward a nationa...

This week on Autonomy Markets , Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Qualcomm and Mobileye 's differing robotaxi strategies, NHTSA removing the physical brake requirement for autonomous vehicles and the New York State Legislature failing to advance an autonomous driving bill. As Congress moves on the Build America 250 Act to legalize autonomous trucking and advances a national framework fo...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss autonomous trucking reaching an inflection point, Waymo acquiring Apple’s Arizona proving ground and Tesla filing for a  robotaxi  permit in Las Vegas. As Gatik expands its middle-mile freight operations with PepsiCo across Texas, Arizona and Arkansas, Volvo Autonomous Solutions told investors it is targeting $3 billion in...

This week on Autonomy Markets , Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss WeRide trying to catch up to Waymo globally, Waymo preparing to deploy Chinese-made robotaxis in Texas and the CEO of FedEx Freight's open embracement of autonomous trucking. As WeRide and Uber continue to expand throughout Europe and the Middle East together, Waymo continues to work towards deploying the Chinese-made Zee...

This week on Autonomy Markets , Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo's widening lead, the Ojai (Chinese-made Zeekr robotaxi) rollout's political fault lines, and the new Texas autonomous vehicle and truck database. Waymo is actively preparing to deploy a fleet of Chinese-made Zeekrs across California and Arizona, now renamed Ojai, in blue and purple states, not a red state, at le...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s undisputed global lead, the growing consumer-driven shift toward supervised ADAS (Level 2++), and autonomous trucking’s inflection point. After spending the week in Silicon Valley, Walt shared his on the ground observations amidst the backdrop of Waymo’s noisy week where the company paused service in several cities...

This week on Autonomy Markets , Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo's newly announced expansion ahead of the World Cup, the suddenly accelerating deterioration of the Uber/Waymo relationship, and the partnerships that actually matter for Uber's autonomous future. As Waymo expanded their U.S. service area by 1,400 square miles across 11 cities, Uber continued to amplify both thei...

This week on Autonomy Markets , Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Grayson's Las Vegas field work riding in Zoox and Motional robotaxis, Uber's earnings and the path to driver-out, and autonomous trucking earnings. The first thing Grayson did when he landed in Vegas was try to order a Zoox, but the service was not available until 11 AM and when it finally came online shortly after 11 AM, the...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss Bot Auto’s fully autonomous commercial run from Houston to Dallas, Aurora’s expanded partnership with Hirschbach, and Uber’s CTO publicly criticizing  Waymo  on X over safety. With  Bot Auto  completing a 231 mile commercial paid run with no human in the cab, no safety driver, and no observer, the conversation evolves into...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss Tesla’s dedicated Supercharger build-out for  Robotaxi  in Arizona, Kodiak’s autonomous trucking operations in the Permian Basin, and Mobileye’s defensive posture on their Q1 earnings call. With Tesla launching unsupervised robotaxis in Dallas and Houston this week, the conversation evolves into a deeper discussion around...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s expansion in Florida, Uber’s continued investments in physical assets, and the potential for agentic AI to disrupt traditional rideshare apps. With  Waymo  opening service to the general public in Miami and Orlando this week, the conversation evolves into a deeper discussion around Disney’s strategic alliances and...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss Uber and VW validating the ID. Buzz in Los Angeles as they prepare for commercial service, Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service, and Waymo’s New York City dilemma. With Uber and VW’s MOIA conducting on-road validation testing for the ID. Buzz in Los Angeles, the conversation evolves into a deeper discussion around wh...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo expanding service to the San Antonio Airport, the company's need for another OEM partner and Baidu's mishap in China. With Waymo opening service at the San Antonio Airport complete with curbside drop offs and a short walk to the designated rideshare pickup area, the conversation evolves into a deeper discussi...

This week on Autonomy Markets , Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk headed to Dallas to attend Forward Fort Worth. While in town, they rode in several Waymos and in Uber's autonomous vehicle partners Avride and May Mobility, and discovered two Waymo depots in Dallas. The Waymo driver in Dallas was noticeably more cautious than in the Bay Area or Miami, but overall a great experience. While riding...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss NVIDIAs autonomous driving ambitions, Uber's Rivian robotaxi deal, and what all of these deals will eventually mean for the robotaxi market. It appears that NVIDIA is aiming to become the Android of autonomous driving, signing up OEMs and positioning itself as a platform provider while insisting it is not the solutions...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss their field work in Austin, Texas, where they rode in a Tesla Unsupervised Robotaxi and walked the Cybercab production line at Giga Texas. Together they experienced Tesla's unsupervised roboataxi operations in Austin, specifically the moment they hailed and rode in a fully unsupervised Tesla Robotaxi with no safety attenda...

This week on  Autonomy Markets , Grayson Brulte and Walt Piecyk discuss Grayson’s recent field work in Silicon Valley and Walt’s observations in London. Together they examine Waymo’s technical milestones, specifically Grayson’s first-hand experience on the highway and at SFO. During Grayson’s ride from SFO to Mountain View, he noted the vehicle’s smooth performance across three lanes, its strict a...

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss the launch of Uber Autonomous Solutions and Waymo's continued to expansion. As Uber’s stock faces pressure from the overhang of future autonomy, the company is attempting to shift the narrative by pitching a suite of services including training data, enriched mapping, and AV insurance. Grayson and Walt break down the initi...

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk unpack a wave of developments reshaping the autonomous vehicle landscape. Data surfacing from a follow-up to a recent Senate hearing reveals that Waymo currently operates 3,000 autonomous vehicles supported by only 70 remote assistance agents worldwide. Grayson calls the ratio definitive proof of Waymo's technology lead, while Wal...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss whether  Waymo  has finally solved the supply constraint question following reports of a deal for 50,000 Hyundai vehicles by 2028. They break down the economics, theorizing a $50,000 per-vehicle cost that likely includes line-fit sensors, a price point that Grayson argues destroys the bear case that autonomous vehicles can...

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s repricing of the robotaxi market with a $16 billion raise at a $126 billion valuation, Uber’s defensive Myths and Realities earnings supplement, and the launch of a new segment, The Pit Stop. The conversation heats up as Walt and Grayson debate Uber’s claim that autonomous vehicle growth is not a zero-sum game, with Gr...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk are joined by their first-ever guest, David Moss, to discuss his 12,961-mile zero-intervention drive across the country on Tesla FSD, the reality of the Unsupervised Robotaxi rollout in Austin, and the commercial viability of LiDAR sensors in consumer vehicles. The conversation heats up as Walt questions David, a LiDAR LiDAR Sales...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s LiDAR controversy following an incident in a Santa Monica school zone, the potential of a mega merger between Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, and Waabi’s $750 million capital raise to pivot into robotaxis. The conversation heats up as Walt and Grayson debate the efficacy of LiDAR versus camera-only approaches, questioning...

This week on  Autonomy Markets ,  Grayson Brulte  and Walter Piecyk discuss Tesla officially removing safety attendants from Robotaxis in Austin, Waymo’s commercial launch in Miami, and Serve Robotics’ strategic acquisition of Diligent Robotics. It finally happened. Tesla has removed safety attendants from a select group of vehicles in Austin. While this initial fleet is limited and operating in a...