This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s unforced error with the Zeekr RT robotaxi, Uber’s future with autonomous vehicles and the winners and losers from the latest round of tariffs.
Waymo’s Zeekr RT robotaxi has seen its price double due to a 100% tariff on Chinese-made vehicles, igniting a debate over whether Waymo made an unforced error with their Zeekr partnership. Could tariffs either accelerate a new OEM partnership for Waymo or see them abandon it all together?
Meanwhile, Uber’s autonomy ambitions are accelerating and gaining momentum globally. This week, Uber announced a partnership with WeRide and the Dubai Road and Transport Authority to deploy robotaxis in Dubai. Could Uber’s largest autonomy market end up being outside the U.S.? Grayson and Walter debate the issue, while exploring the implications that tariffs will have on the autonomy ecosystem.
Episode Chapters
0:00 Tariffs
1:05 Impact of Tariffs on Waymo
6:26 Does Waymo Need to Slim Down?
9:10 Tesla FSD Unsupervised Launch
11:41 Tariffs and The Trucking Industry
13:57 May Mobility
14:27 LiDAR Market
18:25 Energy
22:46 Uber’s Global Ambitions
25:15 Scaling Waymo
31:00 Uber App
37:23 Waymo Messaging
40:17 Zoox
41:23 Lyft
46:37 Personally-Owned Autonomous Vehicles
49:58 Next Week
Recorded on Thursday, April 3, 2025
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