TechCrunch Mobility: Uber bets on its former CEO
TechCrunch Mobility: Uber bets on its former CEO
TechCrunch Mobility：Uber 押注其前任首席执行官
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Tesla kicked off earnings season — at least for this sector — and the shareholder letter, along with Elon Musk’s remarks during the conference call, provided some pretty incredible disclosures I imagine have some investors concerned, or at least puzzled. Tesla has backed off previous promises to reach “volume production” of the Cybercab, Tesla Semi, and Megapack 3 in 2026. And while the company has publicly touted expansions of its Tesla Robotaxi service into new cities in Florida and Texas, the quarter-over-quarter data shows a drop in paid robotaxi miles. 特斯拉开启了财报季（至少对于该行业而言是如此）。股东信以及埃隆·马斯克在电话会议上的言论披露了一些令人难以置信的消息，我想这会让一些投资者感到担忧，或者至少感到困惑。特斯拉已经收回了此前关于在 2026 年实现 Cybercab、Tesla Semi 和 Megapack 3“量产”的承诺。尽管该公司公开宣称其 Tesla Robotaxi 服务正在向佛罗里达州和德克萨斯州的新城市扩张，但环比数据显示，付费自动驾驶出租车的行驶里程出现了下降。
Senior reporter Sean O’Kane took a closer look at a graph shared in Tesla’s shareholder letter. At a passing glance, the chart appears to show steady growth in paid robotaxi rides between August 2025 and June 2026, O’Kane notes. But the numbers displayed are cumulative, and when broken down by quarter, they show that Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet of Model Y SUVs carrying paying passengers covered around 1.1 million miles in the first quarter. That fell to roughly 700,000 miles in the second quarter, a decline of about 36%. 资深记者 Sean O’Kane 仔细研究了特斯拉股东信中分享的一张图表。O’Kane 指出，乍一看，该图表似乎显示 2025 年 8 月至 2026 年 6 月期间付费自动驾驶出租车的行程在稳步增长。但所显示的数据是累计的，如果按季度细分，数据显示特斯拉搭载付费乘客的 Model Y SUV 自动驾驶车队在第一季度行驶了约 110 万英里。这一数字在第二季度降至约 70 万英里，降幅约为 36%。
Musk also disclosed during the call that Tesla needs to accumulate driving data specific to the Cybercab before it can put large numbers of the vehicles on the road. That isn’t terribly surprising; the Cybercab is new, after all. But the reason got my attention. He explained that Tesla has to accumulate miles using Cybercabs retrofitted with steering wheels and accelerator and braking pedals so it can calibrate to the Cybercab chassis. This marks a change from the company’s previous claims. 马斯克在电话会议中还透露，特斯拉在将大量 Cybercab 投入道路使用之前，需要积累该车型特定的驾驶数据。这并不令人十分惊讶，毕竟 Cybercab 是新车型。但其中的原因引起了我的注意。他解释说，特斯拉必须使用加装了方向盘、油门和刹车踏板的 Cybercab 来积累里程，以便对 Cybercab 的底盘进行校准。这标志着该公司此前的说法发生了变化。
For years, Tesla has said its fleet of nearly 10 million customer cars has been collecting data that could be used to train its advanced driver-assistance system, Full Self-Driving (Supervised), and future robotaxis. Musk’s explanation suggests there is a misalignment between that fleet data and how it’s applied to the Cybercab. 多年来，特斯拉一直声称其近 1000 万辆客户车辆组成的车队一直在收集数据，这些数据可用于训练其高级驾驶辅助系统“全自动驾驶（监督版）”以及未来的自动驾驶出租车。马斯克的解释表明，这些车队数据与应用于 Cybercab 的方式之间存在偏差。
On the financial front, Tesla’s Q2 earnings show a company plowing money into its next generation of products (CapEx has doubled, and the company is back in negative free cash flow territory). And even though revenue is up, the boost wasn’t enough to offset the cost of doing business. The company’s net income fell 5% year over year. 在财务方面，特斯拉的第二季度财报显示，该公司正在向下一代产品投入大量资金（资本支出翻了一番，且公司再次回到了自由现金流为负的状态）。尽管收入有所增长，但这种增长不足以抵消运营成本。该公司净利润同比下降了 5%。
Deals!
交易动态！
Travis Kalanick burst back onto the robotics and mobility scene earlier this year with Atoms — a rebranded holding company atop his ghost kitchen project — and a deal to acquire Anthony Levandowski’s industrial automation startup, Pronto. Now the Uber co-founder and former CEO has $1.7 billion in capital to play with. VC giant Andreessen Horowitz led the round with participation from Bain Capital, Fifth Wall, and Uber. Ben Horowitz will join the company’s board following the investment. 特拉维斯·卡兰尼克（Travis Kalanick）今年早些时候带着 Atoms 重返机器人和移动出行领域——这是一家在他幽灵厨房项目基础上重组的控股公司——并达成了一项收购安东尼·莱万多夫斯基（Anthony Levandowski）工业自动化初创公司 Pronto 的交易。现在，这位 Uber 联合创始人兼前首席执行官拥有 17 亿美元的资本可供支配。风投巨头 Andreessen Horowitz 领投了本轮融资，贝恩资本（Bain Capital）、Fifth Wall 和 Uber 参投。本·霍洛维茨（Ben Horowitz）将在投资后加入该公司董事会。
This may seem inconceivable for those who remember Kalanick’s resignation from Uber’s top leadership spot nearly a decade ago — and the string of scandals and lawsuits in the year leading up to his departure. What’s even more incredible is that Uber participated in the funding round. The Information reported Uber invested $100 million into Atoms; conversations I’ve had since confirm that figure and provided new information, including that the investment was made six months ago. 对于那些记得卡兰尼克近十年前辞去 Uber 最高领导职务，以及他离职前一年发生的一系列丑闻和诉讼的人来说，这似乎不可思议。更令人难以置信的是，Uber 参与了本轮融资。《The Information》报道称，Uber 向 Atoms 投资了 1 亿美元；我此后的交谈证实了这一数字，并提供了新信息，包括这笔投资是在六个月前完成的。
Reminder: In 2016 and while Kalanick was CEO, Uber acquired Levandowski’s self-driving trucks startup Otto. Less than a year later, Levandowski’s former employer Waymo (Google self-driving project) sued Uber for trade secret theft. The companies settled on the fifth day of the trial. There is a lot of history, much of it messy, between Kalanick and Uber (not to mention Levandowski). But it appears the ride-hailing company is still willing to invest in them. 提醒一下：2016 年，在卡兰尼克担任首席执行官期间，Uber 收购了莱万多夫斯基的自动驾驶卡车初创公司 Otto。不到一年后，莱万多夫斯基的前雇主 Waymo（谷歌自动驾驶项目）起诉 Uber 窃取商业机密。双方在庭审的第五天达成和解。卡兰尼克和 Uber 之间（更不用说莱万多夫斯基）有着许多历史，其中大部分都很混乱。但这家网约车公司似乎仍然愿意投资他们。
So what is Atoms going to do with this capital? The details are vague, but a company email from Levandowski suggests that Pronto will be a big part of those plans. The email states that “Atoms is investing heavily in Industrial AI and physical automation applied to mining and transport.” And later, “Pronto is a core strategic priority for Atoms, and this round is designed to accelerate exactly what matters most to your operations: scaling practical, OEM-agnostic autonomy.” 那么 Atoms 将如何利用这笔资金？细节尚不明确，但莱万多夫斯基的一封公司邮件表明，Pronto 将是这些计划的重要组成部分。邮件称：“Atoms 正在大力投资应用于采矿和运输领域的工业人工智能和物理自动化。”随后又补充道：“Pronto 是 Atoms 的核心战略重点，本轮融资旨在加速实现对你们运营最重要的事情：扩展实用的、与原始设备制造商（OEM）无关的自动驾驶技术。”
Other deals that got my attention … Einride, the Swedish electric and autonomous trucking company, agreed to acquire EV charging startup Flipturn in an all-stock deal worth $38 million. IBM agreed to buy HRL Laboratories, a quantum computing research lab jointly owned by Boeing and General Motors. Sila, the battery materials startup, raised $300 million in a round led by Atreides Management and Sutter Hill Ventures with participation from 8VC, Bessemer Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. The money will be used to expand Sila’s factory in Washington state to produce enough anode material for more than 100,000 EVs. 其他引起我注意的交易……瑞典电动和自动驾驶卡车公司 Einride 同意以 3800 万美元的全股票交易收购电动汽车充电初创公司 Flipturn。IBM 同意收购由波音和通用汽车共同拥有的量子计算研究实验室 HRL Laboratories。电池材料初创公司 Sila 筹集了 3 亿美元，由 Atreides Management 和 Sutter Hill Ventures 领投，8VC、Bessemer Venture Partners、Matrix Partners 以及由 T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. 提供咨询的基金和账户参投。这笔资金将用于扩建 Sila 在华盛顿州的工厂，以生产足以供应超过 10 万辆电动汽车的负极材料。
Notable reads and other tidbits
值得阅读的内容及其他花絮
Aurora had some news this week that didn’t get a ton of attention, but probably should. The company launched its second-generation driverless trucks, which include new hardware that is smaller, as well as upgraded sensor-cleaning systems and extended range lidar — all of which is built for a million-mile service life. The initial fleet will be modest and used on its Dallas-to-Houston route. The fleet will eventually reach 200 driverless trucks by the end of the year and will be used to haul freight for customers like Hirschbach, Uber Freight, McLane, and Detmar, the company said. Importantly for Aurora, these trucks do not have a human observer in the cab. Aurora 本周发布了一些新闻，虽然没有引起太多关注，但或许应该引起重视。该公司推出了第二代无人驾驶卡车，其中包括体积更小的新型硬件，以及升级后的传感器清洁系统和远程激光雷达——所有这些都是为 100 万英里的使用寿命而设计的。最初的车队规模较小，将用于其达拉斯至休斯顿的路线。该公司表示，到今年年底，车队规模最终将达到 200 辆无人驾驶卡车，并将用于为 Hirschbach、Uber Freight、McLane 和 Detmar 等客户运输货物。对 Aurora 而言，重要的是这些卡车的驾驶室里没有人类观察员。
Ford is turning to Apple for its next generation of EVs. Specifically, Ford is going to integrate Apple Maps navigation and mapping, using a new set of developer tools called Map. 福特正在向苹果寻求下一代电动汽车的合作。具体来说，福特将整合苹果地图的导航和绘图功能，并使用一套名为 Map 的新开发者工具。