China vs US: Who Can Scale Faster, WeRide or Waymo?

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Uber and WeRide's fully autonomous launch in Abu Dhabi, marking Uber's first robotaxi deployment without a safety driver outside the United States.

On WeRide's earnings, the company announced a fleet of 1,600 autonomous vehicles with 750 robotaxis, while Pony.ai announced plans to triple its fleet to 3,000 by end of next year through its Bolt partnership. As Chinese robotaxi companies expand globally, the scaling question emerges: who grows the fastest?

It was another big week for Waymo as the California DMV approved a massive service area expansion that will come with infrastructure challenges and a need for thousands of additional vehicles if Waymo decides to ultimately operate in the approved area.

Later the conversation shifts to Tesla, where Walt shares his firsthand experience with FSD 14.2 in Mad Max mode in New York City. Both Grayson and Walt make predictions on Tesla removing the safety attendant in Austin and expanding to new markets including Arizona, Florida, and potentially Las Vegas by end of next year.

Episode Chapters

0:00 WeRide and Uber Go Fully Autonomous in Abu Dhabi 

3:08 WeRide Earnings 

6:33 Robotaxi Volumes and Business Models 

10:13 Waymo's California DMV Expansion Approval 

14:01 Waymo's Santa Monica Depot Noise Issues 

20:20 Tesla Robotaxi Scale Plans 

24:31 Tesla FSD 14.2 Update 

27:52 Do We Want to Drive Anymore? 

31:25 Next Week

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