Waymo robotaxis demonstrate flawless navigation through Los Angeles streets, seamlessly handling traffic and lane changes, but spark privacy debates as vehicles continuously record passengers and issue behavioral warnings through speakers.
Tesla announces plans to remove human safety monitors from its Austin robotaxis by year-end, marking a major step toward fully autonomous operations after logging over 250,000 monitored miles in the city, while expanding to 8-10 new markets by 2025.
Chinese autonomous vehicle company Zelostech secures $100 million in Series B4 funding led by Ant Group, bringing total Series B funding to $400 million as the firm operates over 10,000 driverless logistics vehicles globally for clients including China Post and DHL across multiple countries.
Chinese autonomous delivery startup Neolix secures $600 million in funding led by UAE-based Stone Venture, claiming deployment of 10,000 robovans across China as competition intensifies in the rapidly evolving self-driving delivery vehicle market.
NHTSA launches investigation into 2,000 Waymo self-driving cars after one illegally bypassed a stopped school bus with flashing lights while children were getting off in Atlanta, with regulators suspecting similar dangerous incidents have occurred before.
Waymo expands its self-driving car service to 8 major U.S. cities after completing 10 million autonomous trips and 100 million miles, with Miami, Washington D.C., and Dallas joining Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta as the company demonstrates improved safety data and faster deployment capabilities.
Stellantis teams up with Chinese AI firm Pony to bring self-driving robotaxis to European cities by 2026, starting with Luxembourg testing using Peugeot e-Traveller vans equipped with autonomous driving technology.
DoorDash launches driverless delivery service in Phoenix using Waymo's autonomous Jaguar SUVs, requiring customers to walk to the curb and unlock vehicle trunks via app to retrieve orders from DashMart stores as the company pushes automation to cut labor costs.
Waymo announces plans to launch a commercial robotaxi service in London by 2026, beginning testing of self-driving Jaguar I-Pace vehicles on public roads as the Alphabet-owned company expands internationally beyond its current U.S. operations.
Nvidia breaks its own investment record with 50 venture capital deals in 2025, pouring billions into AI giants like OpenAI and xAI while expanding across autonomous vehicles, robotics, and data centers as the chipmaker leverages booming AI profits to dominate the tech ecosystem.