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Is Waymo Ahead of the Curve? by Sam Klebanov

William Attardi on July 27, 2025

The Alphabet-owned company (Goggle) has 1,500 robotaxis ferrying passengers around Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta, with plans to roll into new locales. It quietly ramped up to provide over 250,000 weekly paid trips in the US, and beat Lyft’s market share in San Francisco, making it the clear front-runner in the quest to scale rides without a driver. Several companies have hit potholes while chasing the driverless taxi prize. Uber abandoned its internal efforts to develop an autonomous vehicle in 2020 and partnered with Waymo in 2024.  Amazon has yet to launch a paid service, but it is testing a couple dozen of its Zoox futuristic driverless cabs—described by some riders as a “toaster on wheels.” It plans to start giving rides to the public in Las Vegas later this year.  Tesla launched a robotaxi pilot service in Austin last month and one in San Francisco this weekend. Meanwhile, abroad…the roads are getting dominated by Chinese startups like Pony.ai and tech behemoth Baidu, which are operating or testing driverless taxis in China, the Middle East, and Europe.  The stakes are high: The global rideshare market will nearly quadruple from $123 billion in 2024 to $480 billion in 2032, Fortune Business Insights projects.  Is Waymo ahead of the curve?

Tesla Launches Robotaxi Program in Austin, Texas

William Attardi on June 23, 2025

Musk appears to be on the verge of making his robotaxi vision a reality with a test run of a small squad of self-driving cabs in Austin, Texas, that began Sunday with customers paying a $4.20 flat fee! Reaching a million may take a year or more, however, although the billionaire should be able to expand the service this year if the Austin demo is a success. The stakes couldn’t be higher, nor the challenges. Rival Waymo was busy deploying driverless taxis in Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin and other cities by using a different technology that allowed it to get to market faster. It just completed its 10 millionth paid ride. Musk says the robotaxis will be running on an improved version of Full Self-Driving and the cabs will be safe. He also says the service will be able to expand rapidly around the country. His secret weapon: Millions of Tesla owners now on the roads. He says an over-the-air software update will soon allow them to turn their cars into driverless cabs and start a side business while stuck at the office for eight hours or on vacation for a week. “Instead of having your car sit in the parking lot, your car could be earning money,” Musk said earlier this year, calling it an Airbnb model for cars. Musk finally rolls out his driverless Tesla taxis after years of promises | AP News

Name, Image Likeness (NIL) – NIL legislation has transformed the college sports landscape. The Supreme Court, NCAA, and student-athletes all played a role in the new compensation rules. NCAA long argued that amateurs are understood as those who do not profit off of their athletic performance and college sports fans and consumers demanded amateur play on the collegiate level. That argument was denied by the Supreme Court. Student-athletes can now be paid for their autograph, developing their own merchandise, promoting products or services, and event appearances due to their personal celebrity. Now, athletes are starting their own brands, endorsing brands, and becoming their own brands. While the Supreme Court and NCAA passed Name, Image, and Likeness into affect, schools still have their own specificities around the new rule. One of the most important hurdles for student-athletes now is to use these guidelines properly. That is to say athletes must understand how the state they play in or school they attend may affect the way they can utilize now-legal NIL rules. Rules on school logo restrictions, what products may or may not be sponsored, as well as other guidelines, differ from state and school. Athletes are also expected to inform universities of NIL deals and contracts they decide to engage in. Social media and personal branding are now more important than ever. And this is just the beginning.