TechCrunch Mobility: The hidden human cost of robotaxis

TechCrunch Mobility：自动驾驶出租车背后隐藏的人力成本

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, the role AI is playing in it. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! 欢迎回到 TechCrunch Mobility，这里是您了解未来交通以及人工智能在其中所扮演角色的中心。想要在收件箱中接收此内容，请点击此处免费订阅——只需点击 TechCrunch Mobility！

Proponents of autonomous vehicle technology have long argued that robotaxis and other self-driving vehicles will reduce crash incidents and make roads safer. And there is some evidence of that. But that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a cost to those who are working (or have worked) for the companies developing that tech. 自动驾驶技术的支持者长期以来一直认为，自动驾驶出租车和其他自动驾驶车辆将减少事故发生，使道路更安全。确实有一些证据支持这一点。但这并不意味着那些为开发该技术的公司工作（或曾经工作）的人员没有付出代价。

Sean O’Kane, senior reporter, special projects, dug into data submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and found that test drivers for Waymo and Zoox sustained more than two dozen injuries in 2024 and 2025 from hard braking or other sudden movements made by the autonomous vehicles. In some cases, these workers were sidelined for months after sustaining injuries like whiplash when the AVs stopped abruptly, and hard. Check out his full story, which includes interviews with former and current workers. 特别项目高级记者 Sean O’Kane 深入研究了提交给职业安全与健康管理局（OSHA）的数据，发现 Waymo 和 Zoox 的测试驾驶员在 2024 年和 2025 年因自动驾驶车辆的急刹车或其他突然动作而遭受了超过二十多次伤害。在某些情况下，这些员工在自动驾驶车辆突然急停导致颈部扭伤等伤害后，被迫休假数月。请查看他的完整报道，其中包含了对前任和现任员工的采访。

There is one important item to consider. You might ask yourself, well what about the other AV developers? Surely, this isn’t a problem isolated to Waymo and Zoox? And you’re probably right. It’s likely that test drivers for other AV developers are also getting injured, but the companies they work for may be exempt from OSHA’s reporting requirements. 有一点很重要。你可能会问，那其他自动驾驶开发商呢？这肯定不是 Waymo 和 Zoox 独有的问题吧？你很可能是对的。其他自动驾驶开发商的测试驾驶员很可能也在受伤，但他们所工作的公司可能豁免于 OSHA 的报告要求。

Got a tip for us on this story or others? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com. 对这篇报道或其他新闻有线索吗？请发送电子邮件至 kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com，或通过 Signal 联系 kkorosec.07，或联系 Sean O’Kane：sean.okane@techcrunch.com。

Deals! / 交易动态！

I’ve been writing about Gatik, the autonomous vehicle startup known for its self-driving box trucks, since 2019 when it came out of “stealth.” At the time, I wasn’t sure if the startup would survive. The hype cycle was already chewing up and spitting out AV startups and no one seemed close to commercializing their tech. 自 2019 年 Gatik 走出“隐身模式”以来，我一直在报道这家以自动驾驶厢式货车闻名的初创公司。当时，我不确定这家初创公司能否生存下来。当时的炒作周期已经让许多自动驾驶初创公司折戟沉沙，似乎没有哪家公司接近商业化。

Gatik has not only survived, but it has also crossed over from R&D lab to commercial operator, albeit at a small-scale compared with traditional human-driven delivery companies. (The company’s box trucks are driverless and deliver freight from distribution centers to retails stores like Walmart.) And now, with $200 million in fresh funding, it’s pushing to scale. The round was led by Qatar Investment Authority and Koch Disruptive Technologies, with participation from Millennium Management, ARK Invest, and Intact Private Capital. This is Gatik’s largest funding to date. Gatik 不仅生存了下来，还从研发实验室转型为商业运营商，尽管与传统的人工驾驶物流公司相比规模较小。（该公司的厢式货车是无人驾驶的，负责将货物从配送中心运送到沃尔玛等零售店。）现在，随着 2 亿美元的新融资，它正在推动规模化扩张。本轮融资由卡塔尔投资局和 Koch Disruptive Technologies 领投，Millennium Management、ARK Invest 和 Intact Private Capital 跟投。这是 Gatik 迄今为止最大的一笔融资。

But I might argue that its multiyear commercial agreement with PepsiCo, which was signed in June and is part of $600 million in contracted revenue, is the bigger deal here. 但我认为，它与百事公司签署的多年期商业协议（于 6 月签署，是 6 亿美元合同收入的一部分）才是这里更重要的交易。

Other deals that got my attention … 其他引起我注意的交易……

Airbound, an Indian startup building autonomous drones, raised $37 million in a Series A round led by Greenoaks with participation from DoorDash, Lachy Groom, Lightspeed, and Humba Ventures. Airbound 是一家制造自动驾驶无人机的印度初创公司，在由 Greenoaks 领投的 A 轮融资中筹集了 3700 万美元，DoorDash、Lachy Groom、Lightspeed 和 Humba Ventures 参与了投资。
Mubadala Capital, the alternative asset management arm of Mubadala Investment Company, agreed to acquire a majority equity interest in Arrive Logistics, a truckload brokerage based in Austin. 穆巴达拉投资公司旗下的另类资产管理部门 Mubadala Capital 同意收购总部位于奥斯汀的整车货运经纪公司 Arrive Logistics 的多数股权。
Regent Craft, a Rhode Island electric startup developing and manufacturing electric seagliders, raised $120 million in a Series B round co-led by Mare Liberum and AE Ventures. (The seaglider is a class of vehicle called a wing-in-ground effect vehicle, or WIG.) Regent also secured about $120 million debt capital provided by Erebor Bank, which was launched by Anduril Industries founder Palmer Luckey. 总部位于罗德岛的电动初创公司 Regent Craft 正在开发和制造电动海上滑翔机，在由 Mare Liberum 和 AE Ventures 共同领投的 B 轮融资中筹集了 1.2 亿美元。（海上滑翔机是一种被称为地效飞行器，即 WIG 的车辆。）Regent 还获得了由 Anduril Industries 创始人 Palmer Luckey 创办的 Erebor Bank 提供的约 1.2 亿美元债务资本。

One note about Regent, a company I have followed for a while: The startup, which recently completed its 255,000-square-foot seaglider factory, is clearly pushing deeper into the defense sector, probably because there is money and partnerships to be had. 关于我关注已久的 Regent 公司，有一点需要说明：这家初创公司最近完成了其 25.5 万平方英尺的海上滑翔机工厂，显然正在深入国防领域，这可能是因为那里有资金和合作机会。

Vista Global Holding, a private aviation group based in UAE, is considering a European IPO that could raise more than a $1 billion, Bloomberg reported. 据彭博社报道，总部位于阿联酋的私人航空集团 Vista Global Holding 正在考虑在欧洲进行首次公开募股（IPO），筹资额可能超过 10 亿美元。

Notable reads and other tidbits / 值得一读及其他简讯

According to a recent YouGov survey, more Americans oppose police license plate cameras than support them. Do you? Shoot me an email and share your opinion. 根据 YouGov 最近的一项调查，反对警方使用车牌识别摄像头的美国人多于支持者。你呢？给我发邮件分享你的看法吧。

Any, an electric two-wheeler startup out of Belgium, is placing a bet on cargo space. 来自比利时的电动两轮车初创公司 Any 正在押注货运空间。
General Motors is facing increased scrutiny from U.S. safety regulators after hundreds of incidents, more than 20 crashes or fires, and at least six injuries involving brake problems in its EVs. 通用汽车因其电动汽车涉及刹车问题的数百起事件、超过 20 起碰撞或火灾以及至少 6 起伤害事故，正面临美国安全监管机构的严厉审查。
Ford has hired Dave Carroll as president of the company’s energy business. Carroll, who previously worked at ENGIE North America, will succeed long-time executive Lisa Drake. 福特聘请 Dave Carroll 担任公司能源业务总裁。Carroll 此前曾在 ENGIE North America 工作，他将接替长期担任高管的 Lisa Drake。
Rivian CFO Claire McDonough is resigning from her position and will leave at the end of October. Her tenure at Rivian came during a tough, and exciting (ahem IPO), period for the company. And her departure comes at another critical moment for Rivian as it takes on some of its biggest projects to date, including the robotaxi deal with Uber and scaling production and sales of its R2 SUV. Rivian 首席财务官 Claire McDonough 即将辞职，并将于 10 月底离职。她在 Rivian 的任期正值公司一段艰难而又令人兴奋（咳咳，IPO）的时期。她的离职正值 Rivian 的另一个关键时刻，因为公司正在承担迄今为止最大的一些项目，包括与 Uber 的自动驾驶出租车协议，以及扩大其 R2 SUV 的生产和销售。
Uber is launching a new live video streaming feature that will allow parents to keep track of their children during rides. Uber 正在推出一项新的实时视频流功能，允许家长在行程中随时查看孩子的情况。
Waymo shared 10 lessons it has learned after its vehicles had driven more than 200 million autonomous miles. The first lesson — that multimodal sensors are indispensable — received the most attention because it is in direct opposition to Tesla’s camera-only approach. But there were other lessons that got my attention, including Waymo’s promotion of vision language models (an area that is starting to get a lot of attention). Waymo 分享了其车辆在行驶超过 2 亿英里自动驾驶里程后学到的 10 条经验。第一条经验——多模态传感器不可或缺——受到了最多的关注，因为它与特斯拉的纯视觉方案直接对立。但还有其他经验引起了我的注意，包括 Waymo 对视觉语言模型的推广（这是一个开始受到广泛关注的领域）。
Meanwhile, Waymo is making more inroads overseas. The company announced that it plans to launch in Munich, Germany. 与此同时，Waymo 正在更多地进军海外。该公司宣布计划在德国慕尼黑开展业务。

One more thing … One important clarification on what I wrote about last week. You might recall that Waymo shared information about its custom silicon chip — specifically a 5 nm ASIC chip that is designed to handle the massive influx of raw data before it reaches the core “brain” of the self-driving system. Waymo stated in its blog post:“While these A 还有一件事……关于我上周写的内容，有一个重要的澄清。你可能还记得 Waymo 分享了关于其定制芯片的信息——具体来说是一款 5 纳米 ASIC 芯片，旨在处理海量原始数据，然后再将其传输到自动驾驶系统的核心“大脑”。Waymo 在其博客文章中表示：“虽然这些 A