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Global robotaxi market set to hit US$1T by 2040 as China tech costs plummet
17 days ago
- Morgan Stanley forecasts the global robotaxi market to reach US$1 trillion by 2040.
- Chinese robotaxi manufacturing costs are projected to drop to US$35,000-40,000 per vehicle by 2027.
- Lower hardware costs, AI advances, and clearer regulations may enable robotaxis to cover operating costs by 2028.
- Baidu, Xpeng, and WeRide are seen as regional front-runners in China alongside Tesla and Waymo globally.
- Europe and broader Asia could gain increasing importance in the robotaxi sector by mid-decade.
- Chinese companies benefit from structural advantages like cheaper supply chains to accelerate industry growth.
Two teens learn the hard way not to do toy gun drive-bys from a Waymo
14 days ago
- Two California teens were detained by police after misbehaving inside a Waymo robotaxi, which involved drinking alcohol and shooting gel beads (Orbeez) at people.
- The Waymo vehicle autonomously detected the misconduct, stopped itself, and alerted the San Mateo Police, who intervened.
- This incident follows a previous report where Waymo robotaxis reported adult passengers in Los Angeles for drinking alcohol inside the vehicle.
- In California, adult taxi passengers are exempt from open container laws, but ride-hailing passengers are not granted the same exception.
Tesla's profits slide despite growing revenue as it pivots to robotics and AI
6 hours ago
- Tesla reported Q2 earnings of 31 cents per share, missing Wall Street's expected 51 cents, and revenue of $28.23bn vs. $25.71bn forecast.
- The stock fell over 3% in after-hours trading, adding to a year-to-date decline of about 14%.
- Earnings were pressured by the end of U.S. EV tax subsidies and increased competition from cheaper Chinese automakers.
- SpaceX's record stock market debut briefly made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire, though his net worth has since fallen.
- Tesla is shifting focus from vehicles to robotics (Optimus) and autonomous driving (Robotaxi), with Musk claiming Optimus could be 'the biggest product ever.'
- Robotaxi service is expanding to Tampa and Orlando, but only about 50 vehicles operate in Austin, with rollout slowed by safety concerns.
- Musk emphasized that scaling Robotaxi requires caution to avoid harm and negative regulatory attention.
Tesla says 'Robotaxi' is expanding – its own chart shows it's not
5 hours ago
- Tesla's Q2 2026 update used a cumulative chart showing 2.4 million paid Robotaxi miles, but breaking it down by quarter reveals no growth from Q1 to Q2, both at ~900,000 miles.
- Monthly data shows Robotaxi miles front-loaded in April (~500,000) and then decelerated to ~200,000 per month in May and June, indicating a plateau or slowdown.
- Tesla expanded to new cities (Tampa and Orlando) but the active unsupervised fleet shrank to about 21 vehicles, down from 25 in Austin in April, so more cities did not increase throughput.
- Most Robotaxi rides still have a safety monitor, not being truly driverless, unlike Waymo which conducts hundreds of thousands of genuine driverless rides weekly.
- Tesla's cumulative chart hides the stagnation, and the company has missed Robotaxi guidance for three consecutive quarters, with the data not supporting claims of expansion.

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Global robotaxi market set to hit US$1T by 2040 as China tech costs plummet

Two teens learn the hard way not to do toy gun drive-bys from a Waymo

Tesla's profits slide despite growing revenue as it pivots to robotics and AI

Tesla says 'Robotaxi' is expanding – its own chart shows it's not