Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Sean O’Kane / TechCrunch
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Image Credits:Sean O’Kane / TechCrunch
Cloud Computing
DoC
Crypto
Image Credits:Bryce Durbin
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Image Credits:Bryce Durbin
fund-raise
Gadgets
Gaming
Image Credits:Bryce Durbin
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
privateness
Robotics
Security
Social
Space
startup
TikTok
conveyance
Venture
More from TechCrunch
result
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
Welcome back toTechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for tidings and perceptivity on the futurity of transportation . Sign up here for barren — just clickTechCrunch Mobility !
Tariffs , tariff , tariffs . If there is one certainty in this unsettled moment , it ’s this : U.S. tariff policy is potential to change again . As of Friday morning , there is a 90 - Clarence Day pause on “ mutual ” tariffs placed on most countries . However , 10 % groundwork tariff stay and President Trump has ratchet down up tariffs against China to about 145 % .
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives trounce his price objective forAppleandTeslabecause duty threaten todisrupt both business .
However , they ’re hardly the only U.S. companies expect to feel the pain — and then decide whether to cash in one’s chips that along to customers . The intermission on higher tariff come in on goods imported from Mexico and Canada cater relief to the transportation sphere . However , the sphere , particularly any EV companies using LFP ( lithium iron orthophosphate ) battery , are extremely exposed thanks to the oversized tariffs place on China import .
We ’ll be following the tariffs issue closely , the effects of which wo n’t bear out for month .
A little bird
Nearly a year ago , a little bird gave us a tip that sparked a months - farsighted hunt for more information about a secretive EV startup calledSlate Auto . And boy , did we discover a sight . fourth-year reporterSean O’Kanehas all of thedetails in this story , include that Jeff Bezos is support the caller , along with other high - profile backer like Mark Walter , the controlling possessor of the LA Dodgers and CEO of Guggenheim Partners , and Thomas Tull , who is a lead investor of Re : Build Manufacturing .
But there is so much more , including Slate ’s origin story and its clientele mannequin , as well as a 2nd story that corroborate arecent spy shot of its first product , an EV pickup truck .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Got a tip for us ? Email Kirsten Korosec atkirsten.korosec@techcrunch.comor my Signal at kkorosec.07 , Sean O’Kane atsean.okane@techcrunch.com , or Rebecca Bellan atrebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com . Or check outthese instructionsto discover how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop .
Deals!
Welp , I have to intromit I did not see this good deal amount . I ’m talk aboutLucid Motorsbuying upsome ofNikola ’s assets out of bankruptcy .
Yes , Nikola founder and former CEO Trevor Milton , who was convict of securities fraud and recently pardoned by President Trump , wanted those asset . Milton was assemble with a frosty reception . But Lucid was the achiever , after committing around $ 30 million in John Cash and non - cash considerations in exchange for the manufactory , Nikola ’s term of a contract on its Phoenix headquarters , and “ certain machinery , equipment and inventorying , ” agree to a filing .
Other mint that got my attention …
Ayan Capital , which provide halal vehicle funding serving private hire and business drivers seeking halal alternative to purchasing low-toned - carbon emission cars , raised £ 25 million ( $ 32.6 million ) inSharia - compliant financingfrom institutional debt supplier Partners for Growth .
Nowos , a European lithium - ion bombardment repair and maintenance startup , elevate € 6 millionin a round led by impingement venture fund Shift4Good , with participation from Dutch investors Fair Capital Impact Fund and Goeie Grutten Impact Fund . An additional € 3 million in debt financing is presently being raised .
Nuro , the California - based self-reliant fomite startup , batten down $ 106 millionin a Series Es round . The raise , which was a down round , brings Nuro ’s total funding elicit to $ 2.2 billion and its rating to $ 6 billion . That ’s a drop from the $ 8.6 billion post - money evaluation Nuro secured after its $ 600 million Series D in 2021 . angel in this unit of ammunition are mostly existing institutional investors , include T. Rowe Price Associates , Fidelity Management & Research Company , Tiger Global Management , Greylock Partners , and XN LP — as well as strategic partners .
Parallel Systems , which is developing independent , electric load technology , raised a $ 38 million Series B roundled by Anthos Capital with participation from Collaborative Fund , Congruent Ventures , and Riot Ventures , among others .
Notable reads and other tidbits
ADAS
Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency has made excision at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that “ disproportionately affected ” employees workingon vehicle automation safety .
Nissanplans to habituate automated drive package developed byWayvetobeef up its advanced driver - assistance systemstarting in 2027 .
Autonomous vehicles
Waymois preparing to use data from its robotaxis , include video recording from interior camera tied to rider identities , to educate generative AI mannequin , grant to anunreleased version of its seclusion policyfound by researcher Jane Manchun Wong .
Meanwhile , a Waymo robotaxi in Santa Monica caused atraffic jam at a Chick - fil - Aafter getting adhere at the entranceway of the drive - through .
Zooxis deploy a small fleet of retrofitted test fomite on thestreets of Los Angeles .
Electric vehicles, charging, & batteries
CanooCEOAnthony Aquilacan grease one’s palms the bankruptEV startup ’s assets , a judge govern this week .
Elon Musk ’s political action , which have fuel global Tesla Takedown protests , are affect the troupe ’s cut-rate sale . Used Tesla listingshave skyrocketed . And other brands , which still lag far behind Tesla in full sales agreement , are seeing an uptick . For instance , Polestarsales bound in Q1on discounts like its “ Tesla conquering ” bonus .
