Qualcomm Sells the Chip While Mobileye Eyes the Fleet
This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Qualcomm and Mobileye‘s differing robotaxi strategies, NHTSA removing the physical brake requirement for autonomous vehicles and the New York State Legislature failing to advance an autonomous driving bill.
As Congress moves on the Build America 250 Act to legalize autonomous trucking and advances a national framework for autonomous vehicles, Grayson and Walt note that federal action could preempt the hostile policies blocking deployment in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
On the robotaxi side of the business, Mobileye signaled it wants to own and operate a fleet, a press release Grayson flagged for having no city permits and no SEC trail. Walt likened the pivot to BlackBerry building its own product to validate the technology, while Qualcomm took the opposite path at its Investor Day, positioning the company as a low-cost autonomous driving solutions provider that will only supply the Snapdragon automotive platform to enable OEMs to scale their businesses as Qualcomm’s automotive business climbs toward $10 billion by fiscal 2029.
Before segueing into the Foreign Autonomy Desk, Grayson and Walt debate Tesla’s robotaxi turning one year old still short of 100 cars in Austin, Uber’s week of deals and Waymo pausing service around a World Cup stadium, on highways and in some cases heavy rain, leading the hosts to wonder if there is a sensor issue.
On the Foreign Autonomy Desk, China’s Autonomous Belt and Road Initiative continues to accelerate across the globe with Pony.ai launching commercial service in Singapore, Baidu partnering with Swiss Post and WeRide and Uber preparing to launch commercial service in Switzerland.
Episode Chapters
- 00:00 Back from Hiatus
- 01:46 New York Continues to Be Hostile to Autonomous Vehicles
- 05:07 Uber Continues Global Robotaxi Expansion
- 06:56 The Rise of Non-Binding MOUs
- 10:28 Waymo Opens Nashville Market
- 12:16 Waymo’s On-Going Sensor Issues
- 14:53 Tesla Robotaxi One-Year Launch Anniversary
- 16:12 Mobileye’s Robotaxi Fleet Ambitions
- 21:04 Qualcomm’s Growing Automotive Business
- 28:50 May Mobility‘s European Expansion
- 35:36 China’s Autonomous Belt and Road Initiative Continues
- 36:47 Zoox Design Update
- 38:27 NVIDIA’s Nebius Investment
- 41:20 The Road to Autonomy Indices Launch
- 43:58 Next Week
The future is bright. The future is autonomous. The future is The Road to Autonomy.
Subscribe to This Week in The Autonomy Economy™
Join institutional investors and industry leaders who read This Week in The Autonomy Economy every Sunday. Each edition delivers exclusive insight and commentary on the autonomy economy, helping you stay ahead of what's next.