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Anyone pay even a picayune bite of aid toTeslahas belike pick up about Dojo . Tesla CEOElon Muskhas referenced Dojo repeatedly over the year , oftentimes noting that the AI supercomputer is of the essence to the troupe ’s future .
But what is Dojo really ? TechCrunch reporter Rebecca Bellan dug into what is supposed to be the cornerstone of Tesla ’s AI ambitions . Check out her explainer here .
There ’s more , of course , to read about beyond Elon Musk and Dojo . Let ’s dive into the news .
A little bird
A picayune bird drop us a few tidbit recently aboutMonarch Tractor , the startup developing electric autonomous tractor . It seems Monarch ’s leadership team is going through quite a bit of change . We ’ve teach that Monarch ’s primary revenue officer Kent Carroll give in August ; master commercial officer Sam Abidi and VP of ware Danny Beck leave in June ; and Daron Hovanessian , who led mathematical product design , left in July . Abidi and Carroll were at Monarch foronly a year .
Their departures could intend anything — we ’re not here to speculate , as there is always a bit of butter churn in the AV industriousness and tech sector as a whole . But it does come at a curious time of layoffs and new financing .
Monarch Tractor recently raised$133 million in a Series C backing roundco - led by agri - intellectual nourishment technical school impact firm Astanor and HH - CTBC Partnership L.P. , an affiliate fund of Foxconn . The unexampled pear-shaped value the startup at more than $ 500 million . Danaus plexippus CEOPraveen Penmetsatold TechCrunch last calendar month that late layoffs were “ less than ” 15 % of Monarch ’s 250- to 300 - person workforce and were part of a necessary reshuffling as the young fellowship looks to support its growing .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Got a tip for us ? Email Kirsten Korosec atkirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com , Sean O’Kane atsean.okane@techcrunch.comor Rebecca Bellan atrebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com . Or check outthese instructionsto learn how to contact us via cipher messaging apps or SecureDrop .
Deals!
Lucid Motorsmight have set a Modern sales record for its electric luxury sedan chair in the 2nd quarter — results that brought in $ 200 million — but that does n’t mean the EV inauguration is in a comfortable financial attitude . Lucid lost $ 643 million the second quarter and is burning through cash as it pushes to bring its second EV , the Gravity SUV , to grocery .
In short : Lucid require money . Enter theSaudi Arabia Public Investment Fund , which chance to own 60 % of Lucid stock . The land ’s independent wealth fundcommitted another $ 1.5 billion , with half coming in the form of a private placement and the other half as a loan facility .
As senior reporter Sean O’Kane notes , the deal further deepens the tie between Lucid and its bulk owner , which has already committed to buying at least 50,000 of its eV in the coming years and is assist the company build a brand - new factory in the Kingdom .
Side note : This is the 2nd time Lucid has turned to Saudi Arabia for more money since Lucid ’s CEOPeter Rawlinsontold the Financial Timesin a March 2024 interview that he was wary of being overreliant on the Kingdom ’s sovereign wealth stock .
Other deals that got my attention …
3V Infrastructure , an EV charging infrastructure company , lift up to $ 40 millionfrom an affiliate of Greenbacker Capital Management .
Aurora Innovation , the ego - driving technology startup that went public via a fusion with a peculiar purpose acquisition fellowship in 2021 , recently set up to sell up to $ 420 million Charles Frederick Worth of portion . The vernal company ended up exceeding its goal andraised $ 483 million . CEOChris Urmsonposted a blogthat extend a bit more context on where the company is lead .
monitor : The new raised funds come a trivial over a year since Aurora completed acapital raise of $ 820 millionfrom a public and simultaneous private offering of its stock .
H3X , a startup that makes electrical motors , elevate $ 20 millionin a Series A rhythm led by Infinite Capital , with participation from Hanwha AM , Cubit Capital , Origin Ventures , Industrious Ventures , and Venn10 Capital , as well as from exist investors Lockheed Martin Ventures , Metaplanet , Liquid 2 Ventures and TechNexus .
Notable reads and other tidbits
Autonomous vehicles
Waymoisadding another 10 square milesto its robotaxi service sphere to include city surrounding San Francisco . The move , which adds Daly City , Broadmoor and Colma , pushes its full commercial help district to about 55 square naut mi . Waymo is also expanding its service territory in Los Angeles by another 16 solid miles .
Remember last workweek when I highlighted a story about howNuroisgearing for a comeback ? The AV firm recently secured favorable reception from California governor to expand its driverless examination domain . Now it ’s giving a few soupcon on societal medium . The companyposted on Xthat its self - drive organisation — dubbed the Nuro Driver — is being tested on highways . That tweet remind me that Nuroacquiredself - force hand truck startup Ike way back in 2020 .
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries
Rivianreported Q2 earnings , and the result showfinancial deprivation have crept upas the EV maker pushed out the last of its first - generation R1 trucks and SUVs in favor of newer , more cost - efficient variation . The cash burn is illustrious and confirms what some of us have been recollect : The $ 5 billion deal with Volkswagen Group come at the gross time .
Ride-hailing and the gig economy
UberandLyftposted second - quarter earnings this workweek , and there were a few celebrated highlights , including that both ride - hailing company impart up autonomous vehicle .
Lyftreported itsfirst quarter of GAAP lucrativeness — but that winner was tempered somewhat by a soft prognosis for the third quarter . Lyft also announced plans to navigate a unexampled characteristic that will let a rider buy a monthly subscription “ that caps the price for a specific route at a specific time . CEODavid Rishersaid it ’s part of the company ’s broader plan to “ open up up a can of whoop hind end on primetime ” — the Holy Scripture Lyft employ to advert to surge pricing .
Meanwhile , Uber(which describe strong second - quartern results , with vulgar bookings and final profit both up ) foreground the winner of itsautonomous vehicle feat . The company said the number of trips performed by autonomous fomite rose 6x from a twelvemonth earlier . Biggy caveat : Uber did n’t provide a baseline for that figure .
This week’s wheels
TechCrunch senior reporter Sean O’Kane has been tooling around on thePedegoMoto . Here are his intellection on the unexampled e - bike :
I do n’t have a ton of experience with e - bicycle , which is one of the intellect I was eager to put some mile on Pedego ’s new Moto .
Over the last few hebdomad , I ’ve used it almost exclusively as a daycare shuttle . It ’s a great pick for the ride , which is just a few mil and unremarkably assume around 10 moment by gondola . I can make the trip on the bike in basically the same amount of time .
My three - year - old bed the experience , and also that the bike kind of resembles a motorcycle , and I ca n’t pick him . It ’s a sharp - look bike , alike to the styling of Super73 ’s bike ( and its many copycats ) but with a step - through design , making it easier to skip on and off without the risk of kicking my son in the face .
The shocks ( front and rearward ) make for a surprisingly smooth ride , whether that ’s on the brick streets ( we survive near a historic district ) or the rough roads on the way to daycare ( the soil here is very sandy , which lead to a spate of uneven or broken mineral pitch . )
The Moto is heavy , which create it a little tricky to move around , and I imagine the weight plays into how slow it can be off the line using just the accelerator ( even when the 750W motor is set to the high speed background ) . But those are deal - offs I ’d credibly be well-chosen to make in favor of just how substantial the bike performs otherwise . The gargantuan tire always help it find planted , and the ride is even more static when my nestling is on board .
I ’ve liked using it enough that I ’ve been trucking my tike to and from his school day on 90 - degree day , in mellow humidity — which is no small acquisition .
What is “ This week ’s wheels ” ? It ’s a prospect to con about the different transportation intersection we ’re testing , whether it ’s an galvanic or hybrid motorcar , an e - bike or even a drive in an autonomous vehicle .
