TechCrunch Mobility: Robotaxi reality check

TechCrunch Mobility：自动驾驶出租车的现实检验

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Robotaxis are here! And yet, they’re not. That contradiction neatly captures Waymo’s current reality. Anyone walking around San Francisco could reasonably declare that robotaxis have arrived. But arrival, even at scale, doesn’t guarantee permanence. Such is the dogged threat hanging over every company trying to commercialize autonomous vehicles. 自动驾驶出租车（Robotaxis）来了！但它们又似乎没来。这种矛盾恰如其分地概括了 Waymo 目前的处境。任何在旧金山走动的人都可以理直气壮地说自动驾驶出租车已经到来。但“到来”，即便是在大规模应用的情况下，也不代表“永存”。这就是悬在每一家试图将自动驾驶汽车商业化的公司头上的顽固威胁。

Waymo paused operations in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio because its robotaxis are struggling to deal with heavy rain and flooded roads — and specifically knowing when not to enter them. As I prepared to send this newsletter, we learned the company extended that to Austin and Nashville as well. It’s been a persistent problem for Waymo, which prompted the company to issue a recall last week. In the same week, Waymo halted robotaxi operations on freeways in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami as it works to improve performance in construction zones. Waymo 暂停了在亚特兰大、达拉斯、休斯顿和圣安东尼奥的运营，因为其自动驾驶出租车难以应对大雨和积水路面——特别是无法准确判断何时不应进入这些区域。在我准备发送这封通讯时，我们获悉该公司已将此举扩展至奥斯汀和纳什维尔。这对 Waymo 来说是一个长期存在的问题，并促使该公司在上周发布了召回通知。同一周内，Waymo 还暂停了在旧金山、洛杉矶、凤凰城和迈阿密高速公路上的自动驾驶出租车运营，以致力于改善其在施工区域的表现。

For now, the arrival of robotaxis is conditional. That doesn’t mean this conditional status will last forever, but it’s a reminder that launching commercially is not mission accomplished. Waymo — arguably the leader in commercial robotaxi ridership and fleet size — is in the thick of that process. For every new city it enters or capability it unlocks, a new edge case is discovered. 目前，自动驾驶出租车的到来是有条件的。这并不意味着这种有条件的状态会永远持续下去，但这提醒我们，实现商业化发布并不代表任务完成。Waymo——可以说是商业自动驾驶出租车乘客量和车队规模方面的领导者——正处于这一过程的核心。每进入一个新城市或解锁一项新功能，都会发现新的边缘案例。

Situationship or corporationmaxxing?

是“情境关系”还是“企业最大化”？

I’m ditching my “Little bird” section this week to dive into SpaceX, its IPO, and the situationship in the Elon Musk business universe. I typically don’t dedicate too much space in this newsletter to space. Heh. But the SpaceX IPO filing dropped this week, and the man at its helm is also deeply tied to Tesla. So, here we are, talking about space and, more specifically, how Elon Musk uses resources from one company to service another. 本周我将放弃“小鸟”（Little bird）板块，转而深入探讨 SpaceX、其 IPO 以及埃隆·马斯克商业宇宙中的“情境关系”。通常我不会在这份通讯中投入太多篇幅讨论太空。呵呵。但本周 SpaceX 的 IPO 文件发布了，而掌舵该公司的男人也与特斯拉有着深厚的联系。所以，我们现在要谈谈太空，更具体地说，是埃隆·马斯克如何利用一家公司的资源来服务于另一家公司。

The interconnected nature of Tesla and SpaceX isn’t a secret; Tesla is a publicly traded company and does disclose financial transactions with other Musk-affiliated entities. This new IPO filing does the same and with a bit more detail. And now that Musk’s company xAI has merged with SpaceX, the IPO puts all of these transactions under one company. 特斯拉与 SpaceX 之间相互关联的本质并不是什么秘密；特斯拉是一家上市公司，确实披露了与其他马斯克关联实体之间的财务往来。这份新的 IPO 文件也做了同样的事情，且细节更为详尽。现在，随着马斯克的公司 xAI 与 SpaceX 合并，此次 IPO 将所有这些交易都归于同一家公司旗下。

For example, SpaceX purchased $506 million of Tesla’s commercial energy storage products, called Megapack, in 2025 — nearly a threefold increase from the previous year. SpaceX also bought $131 million of Cybertrucks last year. SpaceX paid Musk’s infrastructure firm, The Boring Company, $1 million to construct tunnels in Bastrop, Texas. Musk’s social media company X, which was acquired by xAI last year and has since merged with SpaceX, also spent $1 million leasing space from The Boring Company. 例如，SpaceX 在 2025 年购买了价值 5.06 亿美元的特斯拉商业储能产品 Megapack，比上一年增长了近三倍。SpaceX 去年还购买了价值 1.31 亿美元的 Cybertruck。SpaceX 向马斯克的基础设施公司 The Boring Company 支付了 100 万美元，用于在德克萨斯州巴斯特罗普建造隧道。马斯克的社交媒体公司 X（去年被 xAI 收购并随后与 SpaceX 合并）也花费了 100 万美元向 The Boring Company 租赁空间。

Then there is Tesla’s investment in xAI. Following SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI, that investment was converted into an equity interest in SpaceX. These costs will likely be eclipsed by two future SpaceX-Tesla projects: building Terafab, a chip-manufacturing facility, and Macrohard, an AI platform the two companies are developing that will use autonomous agents to augment the work of humans. 此外还有特斯拉对 xAI 的投资。在 SpaceX 收购 xAI 后，该投资被转换为 SpaceX 的股权。这些成本很可能会被未来两个 SpaceX 与特斯拉的合作项目所掩盖：建造芯片制造工厂 Terafab，以及两家公司正在开发的 AI 平台 Macrohard，该平台将利用自主智能体来增强人类的工作能力。

All of this leads to my question for you. Will SpaceX and Tesla merge? To participate in our polls, sign up here to get TechCrunch Mobility directly in your inbox! 所有这些都引出了我向你们提出的问题：SpaceX 和特斯拉会合并吗？如需参与我们的投票，请在此注册，直接在收件箱中获取 TechCrunch Mobility！

Deals!

交易动态！

Aboard, a Southern California-based startup developing extended-range electric travel trailers, raised $13 million in a pre-Series A round led by Ondine Capital and Llama Ventures. Fun fact: The company hired Richard Kim — an automotive designer known for his work on the BMW i3 and i8 and as co-founder of the defunct EV startup Canoo — as a consultant. Aboard 是一家位于南加州的初创公司，致力于开发增程式电动旅行拖车，在由 Ondine Capital 和 Llama Ventures 领投的 Pre-A 轮融资中筹集了 1300 万美元。有趣的事实：该公司聘请了 Richard Kim 作为顾问——他是一位汽车设计师，以参与 BMW i3 和 i8 的设计以及作为已倒闭的电动汽车初创公司 Canoo 的联合创始人而闻名。
Quartermaster, an Arlington, Virginia-based startup developing a distributed sensing network for ships, raised $43 million in a Series A funding round co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital. Quartermaster 是一家位于弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿的初创公司，致力于为船舶开发分布式传感网络，在由 First Round Capital 和 Quiet Capital 共同领投的 A 轮融资中筹集了 4300 万美元。
May Mobility, an autonomous vehicle technology startup, formed a strategic agreement with Ecarx, an automotive tech company backed by Geely founder Li Shufu. Under the deal, Ecarx will supply May Mobility with thousands of purpose-built robotaxi vehicles. The companies plan to partner with a third party to initially deploy the AVs next year and scale to commercialization by 2028. The total value of the project is estimated to be about $750 million over its entire duration. 自动驾驶技术初创公司 May Mobility 与吉利创始人李书福支持的汽车科技公司亿咖通（Ecarx）达成了战略协议。根据协议，亿咖通将为 May Mobility 提供数千辆定制的自动驾驶出租车。两家公司计划与第三方合作，于明年初步部署这些自动驾驶汽车，并于 2028 年实现规模化商业运营。该项目的总价值预计在整个生命周期内约为 7.5 亿美元。
Scapia, an Indian travel booking startup, raised $63 million in a funding round led by General Catalyst, with existing investors Peak XV Partners and Z47 also participating. 印度旅游预订初创公司 Scapia 在由 General Catalyst 领投的融资轮中筹集了 6300 万美元，现有投资者 Peak XV Partners 和 Z47 也参与了投资。
Uber increased its stake and now owns 19.5% of German food delivery company Delivery Hero, Bloomberg reported. 据彭博社报道，Uber 增加了持股比例，目前持有德国食品配送公司 Delivery Hero 19.5% 的股份。

Notable reads and other tidbits

值得一读及其他简讯

Bryan Reimer, a research scientist at MIT, shared his recent presentation on AI and how its future depends on human behavior, governance, and trust. 麻省理工学院的研究科学家 Bryan Reimer 分享了他最近关于人工智能的演讲，探讨了人工智能的未来如何取决于人类行为、治理和信任。
The global EV economy is K-shaped, and this is the country that is being left behind. 全球电动汽车经济呈“K 型”发展，而这个国家正在被甩在后面。
Lyft published a blog that lays out the company’s position on autonomous vehicles. In its view — and one that is similar to rival Uber — a ride-hailing service requires human drivers and robot ones. This makes sense politically; Lyft doesn’t want to rattle its human gig workers. It also reflects the realities of where robotaxis are, in terms of scale. The upshot: Robotaxis are not a part of daily life for most people in the United States. Lyft 发布了一篇博客，阐述了公司对自动驾驶汽车的立场。在其看来——这与竞争对手 Uber 的观点相似——网约车服务既需要人类司机，也需要机器人司机。从政治角度来看，这很有道理；Lyft 不想激怒其人类零工司机。这也反映了自动驾驶出租车在规模化方面的现实情况。结论是：对于美国大多数人来说，自动驾驶出租车还不是日常生活的一部分。
Self-driving tech startup Nuro hired Michael Mancini as its chief financial officer. Mancini was previously CFO at Energy Recovery, Astranis Space Technologies, and Aerion Supersonic. 自动驾驶技术初创公司 Nuro 聘请 Michael Mancini 担任首席财务官。Mancini 此前曾担任 Energy Recovery、Astranis Space Technologies 和 Aerion Supersonic 的首席财务官。
Stellantis, the automaker behind the Jeep and Ram brands, has tapped self-driving startup Wa… 拥有 Jeep 和 Ram 品牌的汽车制造商 Stellantis 已与自动驾驶初创公司 Wa…（注：原文此处截断）