TechCrunch Mobility: Google’s twins come to your car, chaos comes for Luminar and the aumirification of Uber 2.0

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Ok, who bet his bet General Motors as a landing place for Aurora Co -founder and Chief Product Director Sterling anderson? Not me. But here we are. A few days after Anderson announced his resignation From his position and the board in AuroraHe talks to me about his Next Concert as Chief Product Director In GM. In short, it will monitor the entire GM product line powered by gas and electric vehicles-position that will cover the entire GM portfolio life cycle and include hardware, software, services and user experience.

Anderson couldn’t say too much; Plus, he hasn’t started the job yet. Anderson said he wouldn’t have dealt with the new job if Aurora hadn’t started yet Self -driving commercial service In Texas.

Let’s jump into the other news.

Ladder

In an absolutely wild turn of events, Lightfounder Austin Russell He seems to have been pushed as CEO and chairman of the board. You can Read my coverage hereWho provides a little overview of how this is developing, but I know there is much more in this story. Tl; DR: If you had to read only the Luminar Q1 profit report, you would assume that Russell was still at the forefront. A separate press release, published when the company’s revenue came out, announced a change in leadership and that Russell resigned after an investigation into the ethics of the Audit Committee of the Council.

Here’s what I hear from a few small birds. The word “dazzles” appears more than once and the chaos is not over. Luminar board member Jun Hong Hangwho is the founder and Chief Investment Officer at Crescent Cove Advisors and Russell Mentor, resigned a day laterS Heng was also in the audit committee.

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Deals!

Aurora There were strange few weeks full of peaks – no driver service Woohoo! – and twists – oops, There is a co -founderS To limit things, Uber announced plans to Offer $ 1 billion for removable senior notes due in 2028 in private accommodation. As you may expect, the shares have dropped after investors have been scared for potential dilution and what it can mean to the value of Aurora’s shares.

Other deals that caught my attention …

AutounifeThe most new startup that starts from Up.Labs-Porsche partnership, raised $ 5 million in seed money. Santa Monica -based, based in California, which has built API to allow dealers and service stores to communicate in real time with manufacturers and software providers that have been powering their operations for about nine months.

Chinese battery manufacturer Catl is far from starting. But it is worth noting this plan for IPO Bananas. The company wants to raise at least $ 31.01 billion – It’s just shy of $ 4 billion – On your Hong Kong list. This is the largest list in the world in 2025.

Here potential A deal that raised some eyebrows. Federal Railway Regulators have conversations with Elon Musks tunnel company, The boring companyabove a Project for many billions of dollars amtrakS

PhallicismShared cargo load broker based in California, raised $ 60 million In a series of funding from a series, it is led by O’Neil’s strategic capital. Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, Signalfire, GLP Capital Partners and Braquet Capital also participated.

Remarkable readings and other treats

Autonomous vehicles

TeslaHis plan to launch a Robotaxi service in Austin next month has attracted the attention of federal safety investigatorsS The National Defecting Investigation Office of the National Movement Safety Administration has sent to the company a detailed list of questions about its upcoming Robotaxi service as part of an investigation into how the company’s “full self -visibility (controlled) software works in low visibility conditions.

The withdrawals begin to appear more in the AV sector. Last week was ZamxS Now Waymo have Issued a software download On 1200 self -driving vehicles, after some of its robotaxes participated in minor collisions with gates, chains and other objects similar to the gate.

Weride He seems to be trying to get into Guangzhou. The Chinese company said it had introduced Eight Autonomous Routes for Robotaxi Pilot Work in the central part of the city. The company has also started to try completely without a robotaxis driver In Abu DhabiS

Electric vehicles, charging and batteries

General Motors works on a New battery chemistry Called Lithium Manganese, who says he should reduce costs while delivering a driving range. In particular, these LMR batteries dramatically reduce the amount of nickel and cobalt compared to the most modern GM cells, two critical minerals that are not easily accessible from internal sources in the United States.

Footnote LucidThe recent regulatory submission of Q1 gives a little more idea of ​​its sales. The EV manufacturer’s record quarter received an elevator from Rental and rental rentS

Slate Auto has collected More than 100,000 reservations For your personalized cheap electric pickup.

All, let’s give slowly clapping Toyota for redesigning – and more importantly – renaming – its Only a fully electric vehicle for the US marketS EV, once called BZ4X, will now just be BZ. The original BZ4X was not well received. I look forward to getting behind the wheel to see what improvements Toyota has done. Meanwhile Toyota has Return the C-HR plateBut this time like EV. I hope this time is more successful. He arrived in the United States in 2026.

Concert economy

Three years ago, reporter Rebecca Belen noted that Uber it was TransitionS Her terrain was that the company, like AmazonHe had created a closed business cycle to bring customers back to other Uber channels. Thehe The second part of this evolution startedShe reported this week. It seems that Uber is going beyond its focus on transportation and works to become a convenient super application, service unit, a life platform in daily use with its best offers stored behind a paid wall.

Flight

US legislators have introduced the supersonic aviation Modernization Act in an attempt to review FAA’s 52-year ban on supersonic flight Above American soil. Time can be crucial for startup Super -sound boomthat has made progress in the development of subsequent generation supersonic aircraft

Vertical aerospace announce a plan to develop a Hybrid-electric from its VX4, which suggests that the company pursues defense and logistics opportunities.

Technology in the car

AppleThe next generation of its popular Carplay entertainment software is finally launched. Reminder: it was first announced three years ago. The new version called Carplay Ultrawill debut on New Aston Martin vehicles in the US and Canada.

Google He carries twins, his generative AI, to all cars that support Android Auto over the next few months. Patrick Brady, Vice President of Android for cars, said twins will appear on Android Auto Experience In two main waysS