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I’ve spent a decade protecting Tesla and CEO Elon Musk, so it could be pure for me to weigh in right here in regards to the billionaire’s public fallout with President Donald Trump. Loads of different reporters, armchair analysts, influencers, and bloggers have already performed that. A few of it’s good, whereas a few of it misses the mark — by miles.
Since I benefit from institutional information, and a helluva good reminiscence, let me provide some temporary reminders and predictions. We’ve been right here earlier than — Musk has a protracted, well-documented historical past of making seemingly robust alliances after which burning all of it down.
As senior reporter Tim De Chant famous, Elon is getting an introduction to politics. The issue right here is that Musk additionally embraces danger and gravitas — which signifies that studying one thing doesn’t equate to his conduct altering.
Count on a roller-coaster journey of tentative peace adopted by public outbursts. Rinse. Repeat.
The implications of this fallout promise to be broad and can probably contact all of Musk’s varied enterprises. I will probably be monitoring how Tesla EV gross sales numbers fare and the way the “Big, Beautiful Bill” will really have an effect on the automaker’s enterprise whether it is handed into regulation.
Within the brief time period, I will probably be targeted on Tesla’s nice robotaxi experiment in Austin, Texas, and the way Musk’s sophisticated and more and more poisonous relationship with the Trump administration impacts his dealings with the Division of Transportation. Previous to his public breakup with Trump, Musk was lobbying lawmakers on laws associated to autonomous automobiles — particularly over a invoice launched on Might 15 referred to as the Autonomous Car Acceleration Act.
Slightly fowl
Ever since Rivian spun out Additionally, a micromobility startup that additionally obtained backing from Eclipse Ventures, we’ve been poking round to seek out out extra. Just a few little birds have been in contact and helped us higher perceive how the skunkworks program was a stand-alone firm; in addition they revealed a shocking element: Jony Ive’s artistic agency LoveFrom labored alongside Rivian’s design workforce and the employees underneath the skunkworks program. Senior reporter Sean O’Kane and I have the complete scoop right here.
Bought a tip for us? Electronic mail Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Sign at kkorosec.07, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or try these directions to discover ways to contact us by way of encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Offers!
Memorandums of understanding not often seize my consideration. However this one did.
Joby Aviation and Saudi Arabian conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel signed a memorandum of understanding to discover a distribution settlement for as much as 200 electrical plane. The tentative deal is notable as a result of Abdul Latif Jameel is already an investor of Joby.
If finalized, the partnership may present Joby with a quick path to monetizing its electrical vertical takeoff and touchdown automobiles in Saudi Arabia. Turning an investor right into a buyer can complicate the connection, too (simply ask Amazon and Rivian.)
Different offers price noting …
Obvio, a California-based startup that’s combining AI with cameras positioned at cease indicators to root out unsafe driving conduct, raised $22 million in a Collection A funding spherical led by Bain Capital Ventures. Obvio plans to make use of these funds to broaden past the primary 5 cities the place it’s at present working in Maryland.
Portless, an e-commerce achievement and logistics startup, raised $18 million in a funding spherical led by Commerce Ventures, with participation from eGateway Capital, Floor Up Ventures, and FJ Labs. Portless makes use of a Shein-like enterprise mannequin and expenses manufacturers duties after an merchandise sells, serving to defer the price of tariffs.
Toma, an AI voice startup that’s making use of its instruments to automobile dealerships, raised $17 million throughout a seed and Collection A spherical led by a16z. Y Combinator (Toma was in YC’s January 2024 cohort), the Scale Angels Fund, and auto trade influencer Yossi Levi, often known as the Automobile Dealership Man, have backed the startup.
What Uber’s govt shuffling is telling us
Current govt shuffling coupled with feedback by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi don’t simply trace on the firm’s technique. Nope, this is sort of a neon blinking signal and the phrase “autonomy” is on the middle.
Earlier this week, Uber introduced it had appointed Andrew “Mac” Macdonald as president and chief working officer. The corporate additionally introduced the departure of Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, who ran Uber’s supply enterprise.
Gore-Coty’s tasks will slot underneath Macdonald, who has been with the corporate since 2012 and most lately led the mobility and enterprise operations. One other tidbit price mentioning: He launched Uber’s Toronto operations 13 years in the past and spearheaded its autonomous technique.
Mac’s new function will mix mobility, supply, and autonomy.
At a Bloomberg convention, Khosrowshahi was requested about AVs. He talked about constructing the AV ecosystem and Uber’s stakes in corporations (Aurora and Waabi) growing autonomous automobile know-how.
“We want to essentially support the AV ecosystem and continue to help that ecosystem develop and then AVs penetrate into the marketplace,” he stated. “AVs, we think, represent a safer way of transportation. Ultimately, we think it’ll expand the marketplace as it makes kind of safe transportation cities available to everybody.”
In different Uber information, the corporate has added a brand new kind of account with a less complicated UI for older folks.
Notable reads and different tidbits
Autonomous automobiles
Tesla filed trademark purposes for the time period “Tesla Robotaxi” after the corporate’s earlier makes an attempt to safe emblems for its deliberate self-driving automobile service hit roadblocks.
Electrical automobiles, batteries, & charging
I missed this story from Axios reporter Katie Fehrenbacher and needed to say it right here. Final yr, Redwood Supplies quietly walked away from the Division of Vitality (DOE) mortgage it had obtained conditional approval for. Up to now, Redwood has by no means obtained any federal funding.
I reached out to Redwood to know why. Redwood initially utilized for a DOE mortgage in 2021. The method dragged on and at appreciable value to Redwood. Corporations that undergo this course of are accountable for paying the third-party consultants and specialists employed to vet the enterprise and know-how. By 2024, Redwood was nonetheless on the conditional approval limbo. Whereas it was ready, the corporate raised greater than $2 billion in non-public funding and generated almost $200 million in income final yr.
In the end, Redwood decided that the prices and constraints of this mortgage outweighed its worth.
Way forward for flight
Walmart and Alphabet’s Wing are bringing drone supply to 1000’s extra clients. Wing, which already operates out of 18 Walmart Supercenters within the Dallas-Forth Price space, is organising store in 5 extra U.S. cities via the partnership. In all, greater than 100 shops will probably be added in Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa.
Folks
Trevor Milton, the lately pardoned founding father of Nikola, has been combating a subpoena from the collectors of his bankrupt electrical trucking firm. Milton owed Nikola almost $100 million earlier than it filed for chapter in February, which adopted an arbitration case with the corporate in 2023 associated to his prison conviction that he misplaced.
