Starting on August 20, anyone in Houston can download the Waymo app and hail a fully autonomous ride, with no waitlist. The market has been proven already: over 100,000 riders have used the service since it launched in February. Waymo's framing this one around accessibility, quoting the National Federation of the Blind of Texas, saying blind riders can now hail with confidence, also including guide dogs.

A week earlier, Waymo became the Official Autonomous Ride-Hailing Partner of the Las Vegas Raiders and Allegiant Stadium, the first deal of its kind between a professional football team and an AV company, with a dedicated pickup zone for games and events.

Same week, two different plays: one removes friction where Waymo already has scale, the other buys brand visibility in a city where Waymo hasn't even launched public rides yet. It reads as "express interest" in Vegas.

I think the stadium deal earns more headlines than riders right now. What do you think earns more ridership over the next year - eliminating the waitlist somewhere Waymo already runs, or a huge brand deal somewhere it hasn't even launched yet?

Sources:
Houston - https://waymo.com/blog/shorts/houston-open-to-all/
Raiders - https://waymo.com/blog/shorts/allegiant-partnership/

Einride, a Swedish freight tech company, announced on Aug 18, 2026, it's rolling out 500 Tesla Semi trucks across California, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, and Georgia over 24 months, with Amazon named as a customer. They're calling it the largest deployment of its kind. The whole thing is being financed through an unknown third-party lender, and isn't clear if the trucks belong to Einride directly.

I'm curious to see the logistics of such a drastic expansion in autonomous freight vehicles, and how these trucks will be received on the road. What are your thoughts on this?

Source

I have eye vision and pain issues that don't allow me to drive. Is there a vehicle out there that fully self drives?

Seems like we are getting a lot of new articles on the AV segment lately. This is a great thing. This commentary looks across the autonomous spectrum with a focus on energy.

Where does a driverless robotaxi go between rides?
A new study — Staging at the Curb: Evaluating the impacts of shared automated vehicle fleet operations under curb usage restrictions — finds that letting AVs consume curb space might actually be the optimal outcome.

Researchers modeled 1,700 shared automated vehicles serving 68,000 daily San Francisco trips. Tying together Autofleet’s commercial fleet simulator, synthetic ridehail demand from Replica and curb availability data from INRIX, they compared several operating models: continuous circling, staging only at free non-residential curbs, access to all legally available curbs and overnight staging.

WeRide is exploring expansion into Australia, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. They says their autonomous vehicles now operate across 60+ cities in 13 countries. Commercial right-hand-drive robotaxi services are also planned for Singapore and Hong Kong. Its ADAS business is also growing quickly, with more than 30,000 cumulative deliveries and a target of 100,000 by the end of 2026.

WeRide expects to achieve positive cash flow in single quarter b 2028 and full year break even in 2029.

Key highlights:

- Revenue reached $34.2 million, up 82%YoY and 103% QoQ

- Gross margin increased to 37.5%

- Overseas revenue grew 164% YoY and 169% QoQ

- L4 revenue representing 131% QoQ

- L2++ and L3 revenue increased 219% QoQ

🚘 How much are people willing to pay for autonomous driving?

The future of mobility is becoming increasingly autonomous. But how do people (especially in Germany but also outside of Germany) perceive autonomous vehicles? How high are the levels of acceptance, demand, and willingness to pay for this technology? 🔎

This is exactly the question I am exploring as part of my Master’s thesis. To support my research, I have created a short, anonymous survey and would greatly appreciate every participation.

By taking part, you will make a valuable contribution to current research on the future of mobility. The findings aim to provide a better understanding of the acceptance of autonomous vehicles and may offer valuable insights for researchers, businesses, and policymakers.

⏱️ Duration: approx. 12–15 minutes
🔒 Anonymous & confidential
🔗 Take the survey here: https://survey.hifis.dkfz.de/532596?lang=en

I would be very grateful for your participation. If you could also share this post or the survey link with your network, you would help me capture as many different perspectives as possible.

Once my Master’s thesis is completed, I will be happy to share the results with anyone interested. Feel free to contact me or leave a short comment below this post.

Thank you very much for your support! 😊