Waymo’s Recall, Tesla’s NHTSA Scrutiny, and Sterling Anderson’s Surprise Move

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s recall, Tesla’s most recent NHTSA letter and Sterling Anderson’s surprise move to join GM as EVP & Chief Product Officer.

For the first time ever, Waymo had a fleet-wide recall after a series of minor collisions involving stationary objects, a recall that was fixed with a simple over-the-air update. As Waymo updated their vehicles, Tesla was once again under regulatory scrutiny after a NHTSA letter requested additional information related to the company’s planned launch of FSD Unsupervised in Austin.

Could NHTSA’s request for more information, give Elon Musk and Tesla a convenient off-ramp as they work to further develop FSD prior to deploying fully autonomous robotaxis?

In a surprise move, former Aurora co-founder Sterling Anderson joined GM as EVP and Chief Product Officer. His move to GM signals a potential major strategic shift for GM, especially in the wake of its decision to shutdown Cruise.

With Mr. Anderson’s background in autonomy, software-defined vehicles, and hardware integration from his time at Tesla and Aurora, the hire suggests GM may be quietly rebuilding its autonomy strategy. Whether this positions him as a future CEO candidate or simply as the architect of GM’s next-generation vehicle roadmap, it’s a development that we will be following on Autonomy Markets.

Episode Chapters

• 0:00 Sterling Anderson Joins GM
• 3:34 The Impact of Sterling’s Departure on Aurora
• 5:53 Uber’s Autonomy Investments
• 7:16 Aurora, a Company in Crisis
• 13:04 Kodiak
• 15:30 Bot Auto
• 17:45 Wayve / Uber Partnership
• 21:58 WeRide’s Hong Kong IPO
• 22:46 Waymo’s Lingering Zeekr Problem
• 25:27 Waymo’s NHTSA Recall
• 27:18 Waymo Road Trips
• 28:47 Is Waymo Expanding Too Quickly?
• 30:10 Could NHTSA Delay Tesla’s June Robotaxi Launch?
• 33:38 Market Perception of Tesla FSD
• 36:29 Unforced Error of The Week
• 38:40 Next Week