In the first episode of Autonomy Markets in 2025, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss the ever-evolving landscape of autonomous vehicles and the growth of big tech. Waymo’s technical advancements and steady expansion made the company the clear leader in robotaxis in 2024. While Waymo cemented their role as the leader in robotaxis, Tesla is nipping at their heels as the company prepares to introduce a robotaxi service with the Cybercab. As Waymo and Tesla advanced in 2024, investors fears in Uber’s robotaxi strategy only escalated.While investors fear Uber’s robotaxi prospects, investors cheered when GM shutdown Cruise. Was this the right move? Or this another example of traditional automakers being unable to innovate a create new tech forward products? All this and more on this week’s edition of Autonomy Markets. Episode Chapters0:00 2025 Autonomy Markets Outlook7:21 Share Buybacks 9:07 Traditional Automotive OEMs 15:07 Leaning into The Future17:45 Tesla Q4 2024 Deliveries 18:35 Tesla FSD (Full Self-Driving) Take Rates22:25 Tesla Cybertruck/Trump Hotel Attack25:21 Elon Musk’s Focus on Policy27:36 Beijing Gives Green Light to Autonomous Vehicles 30:46 Autonomy M&A34:11 MAG 735:56 Waymo37:32 Warning Triangles 42:19 CES 2025Recorded on Friday, January 3, 2025--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

David Liu, CEO & Co-Founder, Plus joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss Plus’ global vision for autonomous trucking.Plus is taking a global approach to autonomous trucking as a technology enabler rather than a fleet operator with three global OEM partnerships with Traton Group, Hyundai Commercial Vehicle, and IVECO. These partnerships are enabling Plus to focus solely on building a virtual driver, while the partners develop and build the physical truck. Currently Plus is testing their autonomous driving software in the United States, Sweden, and Japan as they prepare for commercial operations in 2027 with their OEM partners. Recorded on Wednesday, December 18, 2024Episode Chapters0:00 Founding of Plus2:55 Is 2025 The Year Autonomy Goes Mainstream?5:24 Plus / Traton Partnership 7:06 Plus / Hyundai Commercial Vehicle Partnership8:38 Partnership Development 12:09 Global Testing, Development and Operations14:54 Data Models17:06 Low Power / Small On-Board Hardware23:53 Vision Only27:28 Redundancy 29:53 Developing and Maintaining Trust 32:49 Plus Business Model36:17 Advancements in AI 41:09 Future of Plus--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Tesla FSD 13, autonomous trucking’s regularity roadblocks and Waymo’s path to offering service at theSan Francisco International (SFO) Airport. Tesla’s FSD 13 is as a major technical leap forward. While we have been impressed with its more natural driving style and improved responsiveness to traffic flow, it’s not ready for deployment on the Cybercab. Later the conversation shifts to recent government actions affecting the autonomous vehicle industry, including the Biden administration’s denial of warning triangle exemptions for autonomous trucks and the introduction of AVSTEP, a new voluntary reporting framework from NHTSA. The podcast concludes with an analysis of Waymo’s potential expansion to San Francisco International Airport and broader implications for autonomous vehicle deployments. Episode Chapters0:00 Tesla FSD 1315:21 Cybercab / FSD Driver-Out Predictions 19:09 FMCSA Warning Triangle Exemptions 26:33 AV STEP33:20 DOGE35:24 Scaling Autonomous Vehicles in China38:35 Waymo is One Step Closer to SFO Deployment 41:24 Waymo on Highways and Future Airport Deployments 46:41 Light Mapping / No Mapping Approach to Autonomy47:26 2025 OutlookRecorded on Saturday December 28, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pete Bigelow, Senior Reporter, Automotive News joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss Detroit’s future in autonomy. When GM shutdown Cruise, did they end Detroit’s autonomous future?GM has a pattern of getting to the one-yard line and fumbling with innovations like the EV1, skateboard architecture and now Cruise. As the fundamental challenges facing legacy automakers only increase, is Detroit on the verge of becoming Foxconn City?GM’s decision making has direct parallels to IBM’s decline in tech innovation. Could GM be following the same path as IBM? Only time will tell, but serious questions remain about GM and Detroit’s ability to compete in an increasingly software-driven, autonomous automotive future.Recorded on Monday, December 16, 2024Episode Chapters0:00 Detroit’s Future in Autonomy5:22 Dan Ammann’s Cruise Strategy9:49 December 16, 202412:22 Autonomy Tailwinds14:20 User/Driver Experiences17:37 Does Detroit Become Foxconn City?19:58 Is GM Afraid of Change?29:22 Is GM the new IBM?35:30 Could Waymo License the Origin from GM?39:47 Economics of Autonomous Vehicle Rides41:57 LiDAR Market45:04 Human in the Loop--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Apple’s potential return to the robotaxi market through Foxconn. If Foxconn is successful in acquiring Nissan, it would create a path for Apple to re-enter the autonomous vehicle sector. Rather than building their own autonomous driving system from the ground-up, Apple could partner with Wayve to power the autonomous system, while Foxconn could be the contract manufacturer to build the vehicle. This approach would mirror Apple’s historical approach of gradually developing in-house capabilities while initially relying on partners, as they did with iPhone modems and chips. Additionally this week, Waymo announced a road trip to Japan and Uber continues to develop their fleet strategy.Episode Chapters0:00 Waymo Heads to Japan2:39 Waymo’s Zeekr Dilemma 6:52 Masayoshi Son / Softbank8:21 Could Apple Return to Autonomous Vehicles with Foxconn?17:51 Uber’s Fleet Ambitions 23:36 Are Uber’s Robotaxi Fears Overblown?30:15 Pony AI’s Projected China Market Growth32:41 Autonomous Vehicle Policy36:36 Kodiak Deploys an Autonomous F-150 in the Snow38:22 Next WeekRecorded on Wednesday, December 18, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Edwin Olson, Co-Founder & CEO, May Mobility joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss May Mobility’s strategic expansion into Japan through partnerships with Toyota and NTT and their plans to launch with Lyft in Atlanta in 2025.May Mobility is focused on creating scalable, low-power autonomous vehicles that are profitable. One of the keys to May Mobility’s success so far has been their multi-policy decision making (MPDM) system that runs on the edge, primarily with CPUs instead of GPUs, requiring less compute power.Recorded on Tuesday, December 10, 2024Episode Chapters0:00 May Mobility in Japan3:11 May Mobility’s Approach to Autonomous Driving7:23 Autonomous Driving Models (LLMs)10:56 On-board Compute14:23 Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM)20:46 Japan Deployments 24:25 Simulation 26:16 MPDM on the Edge29:12 Scaling May Mobility34:57 Passenger Experience42:24 Atlanta Expansion / Lyft Partnership48:50 Freeways52:33 Future of May Mobility--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss the dramatic turn of events that led GM to abruptly shut down Cruise, just days before a planned driver-out launch in Houston. The decision made by CEO Mary Barra, reportedly stems from fears of another incident.With the decision to pull the plug on Cruise, GM burnt $9 billion of investment dollars with nothing to show for it. The Cruise shutdown highlights the ongoing challenges of how traditional automakers are approaching autonomy. As traditional automakers falter, Waymo and Tesla continue to accelerate as the market is beginning to consolidate around them as the leaders in robotaxis.As we look to 2025, more consolidation is likely on the way, with Daimler Truck potentially scaling back their in-house autonomous trucking program (Torc Robotics). Then there is Uber which is struggling to define their autonomy narrative to the market. What moves do they make to calm market jitters?Episode Chapters0:00 GM Pulls the Plug on Cruise7:57 Uber & Lyft in the Era of Autonomy16:47 Zoox and Amazon. What is the Path Forward?22:45 Could Daimler Truck Follow GM and Shutter Torc Robotics?29:25 Amazon and Autonomy31:06 Walmart32:15 Cybercab in 2026?33:10 Aurora33:51 Next WeekRecorded on Thursday, December 12, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Andrew Chapin, Chief Operating Officer, Nuro joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss Nuro’s bold pivot to licensing their autonomous driving stack instead of scaling their autonomous robot delivery business. As part of the strategic pivot, Nuro has developed the Nuro Driver, which can drive on surface streets and is designed to be adaptable across multiple vehicle platforms. Nuro’s strategy centers on licensing its autonomous driving technology to mobility service platforms, OEMs, and potential fleet operators, with a focus on North America. By remaining an independent company, Nuro aims to provide flexibility in tailoring solutions to customer needs and maintaining capital efficiency. The company expects to power robotaxis, delivery services, and L2+ to L3 autonomous systems in the coming years.Recorded on Tuesday, December 3, 2024Episode Chapters0:00 Nuro’s Pivot to Licensing 4:36 Advantages of Being Independent 7:08 Capital Allocation10:42 Nuro Licensing Model 15:51 Could More Autonomy Companies Pivot to Licensing?17:44 Nuro Driver ODD21:01 Driver-Out on Highways23:31 Nuro Vehicle Platforms 27:53 Scaling Nuro’s Licensing Business 32:32 Insurance + Validation 35:41 Future of Nuro--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo's expansion to Miami, Uber and Lyft's future in the era of autonomy and Tesla's releases of FSD 13.Waymo is expanding to Miami in 2025 without one of their partners—Uber. Instead, Waymo chose Moove as their fleet management partner. Could this signal something more broad, as Moove is also taking over the fleet management operations for Waymo in Phoenix?Tesla released Full Self-Driving (FSD) 13.2 this week and it appears to have lived up with the hype with Alphabet CEO, Sundar Pichai acknowledging that he currently views Waymo and Tesla as the two leaders in the development and commercialization of autonomous vehicles.Episode Chapters0:00 Football0:38 Waymo Expands to Miami + Impact on Uber Partnership10:43 Uber and Lyft in the Era of Autonomy16:31 Fleet Management for Autonomous Vehicles26:17 Tesla FSD 1333:13 Waymo vs Tesla / WholeMarsBlog Ride Comparison36:59 Scaling the Tesla Cybercab40:25 Tesla Delaware Judge Ruling42:30 May Mobility Expands in Japan45:49 Next WeekRecorded on Thursday, December 5, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/Order your very own Make Autonomy Great Hat here: https://store.roadtoautonomy.com/products/make-autonomy-great-hatSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tim Bucher, Co-Founder & CEO, Agtonomy joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss how autonomy, AI and robotics can solve the global food crisis. There is a global food shortage that is only projected to grow because of labor concerns. In 2023, over 281.6 million people in 59 countries faced high levels of acute food insecurity. Autonomy, AI and robotics can solve this by ensuring that farmers can continue to farm amidst the backdrop of a severe labor shortages, rising wages and the declining interest of younger generations in farming.Agtonomy is addressing these critical challenges in agriculture by scaling autonomy on farms in a cost efficient manner to farmers globally. Recorded on Tuesday, November 19, 2024Episode Chapters0:00 Agtonomy’s Approach to Autonomy on Farms3:36 Tractors4:36 Productivity Increases from Autonomy on Farms 10:16 Attracting Farm Talent 15:37 Deploying Autonomy on Farms19:50 Precision Ag 21:57 Deploying Agtonomy on Farms25:27 Computer Vision and Sensors29:35 The Opportunity to Deploy Autonomy on Farms34:33 Agtonomy’s Approach to the Market41:16 New Verticals for Agtonomy44:51 Future of Automation on Farms--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.