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The latest news cycle is a good reminder that even a grizzled old reporter who thinks she has seen it all can still be surprised — and nothing lasts forever. Intrigued? Read on.
Welp, it sure is getting spicy over at TuSimple, according to several little birds.
The company disclosed last month a new business segment focused on — wait for it — AI-generated animation and video gaming. That action, our little bird network told us, has prompted backlash among some shareholders. Now it seems a fight is brewing over roughly $450 million in funds, the bulk of which remains in the United States. And arguments over the company’s mission lie at the center of it.
TechCrunch reporters Rebecca Bellan and Rita Liao chased down the story, and there are quite a few interesting details. For instance, TuSimple was beefing up its autonomous vehicle workforce in China late last year but then changed course in early 2024. Hundreds were laid off, although when asked, CEO Cheng Lu told Rebecca that these folks (about 500) resigned en masse.
Where does TuSimple go from here? There have been threats of lawsuits, although nothing new just yet. While the threats loom in the background, TuSimple is moving forward with development of an animated feature film and video game based on the science-fiction series “The Three-Body Problem.”
This whack-a-doodle pivot had me thinking: Sheesh, maybe I’ve been covering this industry simply too long.
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Deal flow in the transportation industry is a bit light this week. Here are some highlights.
Alaska Airlines completed its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines. The acquisition is yet another example of consolidation in the airline industry.
AIfleet, a trucking tech startup, raised $16.6 million in a Series B funding round led by Tom Williams at Heron Rock. Notably, Volvo Group VC participated, along with Obvious Ventures, Ibex Investors, Compound, Winthrop Square, and Cooley. The company has raised $50 million to date.
Clean Electric, an Indian battery tech startup, raised $6 million in a funding round co-led by Info Edge Ventures, Pi Ventures, and Kalaari Capital. Lok Capital and other investors also participated.
SiLC received an undisclosed investment from Honda to develop next-generation FMCW lidar solutions for all types of mobility.
ZeroAvia, a startup developing hydrogen-electric (fuel cell-powered) engines for planes, extended its Series C financing round to a total of $150 million, with an investment from Scottish National Investment Bank. The round was co-led by Airbus, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital, and NEOM Investment Fund, with UK Infrastructure Bank joining as a cornerstone-level investor. Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Summa Equity, Alaska Airlines, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, and AP Ventures also participated.
Oxa, a Google-backed startup developing software for autonomous vehicles, acquired industrial logistics company StreetDrone for an undisclosed sum.
Motional president and CEO Karl Iagnemma — an early pioneer in the AV industry — has stepped down from the top leadership spot. CTO Laura Major is now interim CEO. Whether Major keeps that position is unknown. My inside sources suggest this is very much an evolving situation. Stay tuned.
Waymo and Uber expanded their relationship in a deal that is bigger than some folks might realize. Uber users in Austin and Atlanta will be able to hail Waymo robotaxis through the app in early 2025 as part of an expanded partnership between the two companies. Why so notable? For one, Uber, not Waymo, will be the operator.
Faraday Future is doling out big raises and bonuses to its CEO and its founder. Remember that this company is barely hanging on and has delivered just 13 cars in its 10-year history.
Fisker, the bankrupt EV startup, is reversing course just a few days after telling owners they would have to pay labor costs for recall repairs.
GM’s electric vehicle customers can now officially access Tesla’s Superchargers, more than a year after the automaker first announced that it would adopt its rival’s charging standard. But what about all the other non-Tesla EVs out there? Stay tuned for a list that we’ll be keeping updated.
Gogoro CEO Horace Luke resigned as an investigation into subsidy fraud continues at the Taiwanese electric scooter manufacturer and battery-swapping company.
U.K. startup Apian, Alphabet’s drone company Wing, and the U.K.’s National Health Service have launched a pilot program that will use drones to fly urgent blood samples between two hospitals in London.
United’s chief customer officer, Linda Jojo, explained to TechCrunch why the airline picked SpaceX’s Starlink to power its free Wi-Fi.
Remember that apparent cyberattack at the Port of Seattle, which also operates the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport? We now have official confirmation that it was targeted by a ransomware attack.
This week’s wheels will return next week with insights into the GMC Sierra EV. Future vehicles include the Mazda CX-90 PHEV and e-bikes.
What is “This week’s wheels”? It’s a chance to learn about the different transportation products we’re testing, whether it’s an electric or hybrid car, an e-bike, or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle.
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Motional, the autonomous vehicle startup backed by Hyundai, is shaking up its leadership ranks. Karl Iagnemma, an early pioneer in the autonomous vehicle industry whose startup Nutonomy lies at the foundation of Motional, is stepping down as president and CEO.
Iagnemma will move over to a senior strategy advisor role, while CTO Laura Major will become interim CEO, according to a company announcement that was released Wednesday evening. Major will also maintain her CTO role.
Motional didn’t provide a reason for the change, although one source familiar told TechCrunch the decision was amicable. In a statement, Iagnemma said he was honored to serve as CEO and is “immensely proud of the progress” the team has made toward developing and deploying safe autonomous vehicles.
Iagnemma has been a central figure not just at Motional, but within the autonomous vehicle industry. Iagnemma and Emilio Frazzoli, who became well known in academic circles for their robotics and AV research, were part of the MIT team that participated in DARPA’s autonomous vehicle research and development program called the Urban Challenge in 2007. The pair would go on to found AV startup Nutonomy (stylized as nuTonomy) in 2013.
Nutonomy never received the same amount of media attention as other bigger and better funded AV players like the Google self-driving project, now known as Waymo. However, it got the attention of investors and the automotive and tech industry when it became the first to deploy a public trial of a self-driving car service in Singapore in August 2016. A little more than a year later, Nutonomy was acquired by Delphi — now known as Aptiv — for $450 million.
When Hyundai and Aptiv formed a $4 billion joint venture in 2019 called Motional to commercialize autonomous vehicles, Iagnemma took the top leadership role.
Motional has made progress on its push to launch a commercial robotaxi. However, it has also faced a challenging funding environment that delayed its plans. Earlier this year, automotive supplier Aptiv — the other half of the joint venture — said it would no longer allocate capital toward the endeavor.
Hyundai ultimately stepped forward and in May agreed to invest another $1 billion into Motional. Hyundai made a $475 million direct investment in Motional and spent another $448 million to buy 11% of Aptiv’s common equity interest. The deal gave Hyundai a majority stake, while providing the self-driving startup with the necessary capital to keep operating.
But it came with a cost. Motional laid off about 550 people, paused commercial operations, and delayed plans to launch a robotaxi service with its next-gen Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxis until 2026 as part of a restructuring. The commercial operations included taxi rides in autonomous Hyundai Ioniq 5 vehicles in Las Vegas via the Uber and Lyft network.
The company also ended deliveries using its autonomous vehicles for Uber Eats customers in Santa Monica. A human safety operator was behind the wheel in all of its commercial operations.
The restructuring was designed to make progress on the core technology and the business model while preserving capital, sources familiar with the changes said at the time.
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