Tesla FSD Under Scrutiny After Fatal Crash; Waymo Imports Thousands of Robotaxis

Tesla's automated driving system, Full Self-Driving (FSD), is drawing growing attention after a series of incidents. A fatal crash in Texas killed a 76-year-old woman when a Tesla struck a home. The driver initially told police that Autopilot—a discontinued basic driver-assistance system—was engaged. However, Tesla's vice president of AI software, Ashok Elluswamy, claimed on X that the driver manually overrode the system by fully pressing the accelerator pedal, suggesting the vehicle was equipped with FSD (Supervised), not Autopilot. Without an independent investigation, the exact circumstances remain unclear. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have both opened investigations into the crash.

Separately, Tesla settled a lawsuit linked to a 2023 fatal crash involving FSD (Supervised). That crash is part of another NHTSA probe focusing on whether the system can detect and respond appropriately to reduced visibility conditions like sun glare, fog, or dust.

Meanwhile, Waymo is ramping up imports of robotaxis from China. Research firm MoffettNathanson analyzed Bill of Lading documents and found that Waymo is on pace to import 3,156 Zeekr vehicles this year—about 300 per month. These vehicles, labeled CM1e or CME, are built in China and equipped with Waymo's sixth-generation system, including 13 cameras, four lidars, six radars, and external audio receivers. They lack vehicle communication modules, bypassing U.S. restrictions on Chinese connected-car technology.

Lucid Motors is laying off 18% of its workforce, or about 1,500 employees, and cutting the second shift of EV production at its Casa Grande, Arizona factory. This follows a 12% staff reduction just four months ago. CEO Silvio Napoli said the cuts aim to simplify the company and boost competitiveness.

Lyft CEO David Risher outlined a multi-sensor safety standard for autonomous rides: vehicles using only one sensor type won't qualify for the Lyft network. The company confirmed that this excludes camera-only vehicles like the Tesla Cybercab and robotaxis using FSD (Unsupervised). The rule does not apply to advanced driver-assistance systems, so human-driven Teslas on Lyft are unaffected.

Other deals and news: Aseon Labs raised $10 million for autonomous mobile pods that inspect, clean, and charge robotaxis; CaoCao and May Mobility partnered to commercialize robotaxi services abroad; Elroy Air plans to go public via a SPAC merger valued at ~$1 billion; Partly raised $50 million in Series B; Spiro secured $55 million from NewTrails Capital; Terawatt Infrastructure obtained a $300 million credit facility for charging depots.

Notable reads: The U.S. Department of Transportation proposed changes to allow vehicles designed for fully autonomous driving to skip brake pedals; Waymo established an entity in Germany and dropped its waitlist in Nashville; Zoox refreshed its robotaxis for commercial service; Uber faces a shareholder lawsuit over safety and compliance failures.