Robotaxis Get the Hype, Autonomous Trucks May Get the Profits

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 autonomous transport revenue within five years through its transport-as-a-service (TaaS) business.

On the robotaxi side of the business, Waymo acquired Apple’s former 5,500-acre proving ground in Wittmann, Arizona for $220 million, a facility with a high-speed oval an hour from its Mesa up-fitting plant. Grayson views the acquisition as a signal that Waymo is preparing to test at highway speeds away from prying eyes, while Walt notes that satellite imagery sees everything.

Before the segueing into the Foreign Autonomy Desk, Grayson and Walt debate Tesla’s Clark County permit application for up to 5,000 robotaxis in a Las Vegas market with roughly 6,500 Uber drivers, Einride going public and Rivian beginning R2 deliveries.

On the Foreign Autonomy Desk, Chinese robotaxi continues to accelerate into Europe with Pony.ai in Luxembourg and WeRide in Slovakia.

Episode Chapters

• 00:00 Gatik Goes Driver-Out with PepsiCo
• 02:51 Volvo Targets $3 Billion in Autonomous Transport Revenue
• 06:54 Einride Goes Public
• 08:58 Tesla Files for Clark County Robotaxi Permit
• 11:52 Waymo Acquires Apple’s Arizona Proving Ground
• 13:39 Wayve and Uber Open the UK Interest List
• 16:20 Baidu Added to the Pentagon’s Designation List
• 18:31 Foreign Autonomy Desk
• 27:13 Nebius Launches a Physical AI Lab
• 28:14 Next Week