Episode 263 | Waymo Won the Robotaxi Race, While Detroit Walked Away Twice

David Welch, Detroit Bureau Chief, Bloomberg joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss how Waymo won the robotaxi race as Detroit walked away two times.

There are major shifts happening in the autonomous vehicle industry as Waymo scales up operations and Tesla prepares to introduce the Cybercab. At CES last week, Jensen Huang, Co-founder & CEO of NVIDIA highlighted autonomous vehicles multi-trillion dollar potential.

As Waymo and Tesla have accelerated, traditional automakers have largely abandoned their in-house autonomous vehicle development programs. Ford shutdown Argo AI and GM shutdown Cruise, potentially opening the door for companies such as Wayve and Nuro that are pursuing a licensing model. 

Then there is May Mobility which is emerging as an interesting player in the autonomous vehicle industry, with strong relationships Toyota and NTT, along a planned expansion with Lyft in Atlanta. By the end of 2025, the robotaxi market could look completely different.

Recorded on Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Episode Chapters

0:00 2025 Autonomy Market Outlook

2:53 Did GM Pull the Plug on Cruise Too Soon?

9:23 Zoox IPO?

10:52 Could Amazon Integrate Zoox into Prime?

12:03 Waymo 2025 Outlook

14:21 Does Uber Need a Fragmented Market to Win in Robotaxis?

15:27 Rename Robotaxis, America Taxis

17:30 Waymo in NYC?

20:40 Will a National Autonomous Vehicle Framework Spur Investments?

23:31 May Mobility

28:55 Tesla Robotaxi

33:30 Vision Only

35:24 AI

37:12 Detroit’s Autonomy Strategy

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