WeRide Is Catching Up to Waymo Globally

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss WeRide trying to catch up to Waymo globally, Waymo preparing to deploy Chinese-made robotaxis in Texas and the CEO of FedEx Freight’s open embracement of autonomous trucking.

As WeRide and Uber continue to expand throughout Europe and the Middle East together, Waymo continues to work towards deploying the Chinese-made Zeekr robotaxis now called the Ojai, with data suggesting they are now in Texas, in a politically risky move.

FedEx Freight CEO John Smith declared autonomous trucks ready for prime time, a signal Grayson reads alongside Amazon entering the freight business and Uber selling down another stake in Aurora. With Amazon running one of the most sophisticated freight networks in the world and FedEx now a standalone public company, the pressure on Uber Freight is building.

Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and Walt Uber’s continued European push by partnering with Autobrains on a Munich robotaxi service pending regulatory approval, and Saudi Arabia’s PIF-backed Humain partnered with NVIDIA to deploy robotaxis in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Episode Chapters

• 00:00 SpaceX IPO
• 3:53 WeRide and Uber Expand Across Europe
• 7:39 Waymo Registers 45 Zeekrs in Texas
• 10:30 Waymo’s New Tampa Depot
• 15:36 Uber Sells Down Its Aurora Stake
• 16:33 Why Amazon Hasn’t Bought an Autonomous Trucking Company?
• 23:04 Avride Robotaxis in Texas
• 25:26 Serve Robotics Moves Into Laundry
• 26:29 Ferrari Rules Out Autonomy
• 28:56 Foreign Autonomy Desk
• 30:27 Next Week