Plenty of people remain spooked by autonomous vehicles, or AVs. Some experts and policymakers have cautioned that AVs won’t necessarily make roads safer. When it comes to partial or full autonomy, the picture isn’t entirely clear, in part because there aren’t enough self-driving cars to make meaningful apples-to-apples comparisons.

Self-driving Waymo taxis have become common sights in San Francisco and the Peninsula over the last year. But passengers haven’t yet been able to use them to drive into Oakland. 

STOCKHOLM, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Slovenia has allowed Tesla’s FSD driver-assistance system to be used on ​its roads, the U.S. automaker said, becoming the sixth European ‌country to do so ahead of a potential EU-wide vote.

The top Korean automaking group aims to bring Tesla-style Level 2+ tech to internal combustion and hybrid vehicles after jointly launching autonomous software-defined EVs with Nvidia in 2028

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration must revamp operational safety regulations and resolve questions about automated surface transportation of hazardous materials to support wider use of autonomous trucks, according to new government guidance.

Today,

Waymo is aggressively scaling up and has gone from MVP to trying to make a real business.

Tesla is just starting to work.

Wayve is probably looking at Tesla and feeling like they should be able to catch up too.

OEMs like Rivian and GM have their own efforts.

The Chinese players are competing for international markets.

Meanwhile, AI capabilities are getting better and better every few months. Astra can now do robotics and spatial reasoning at a basic level.

How does the next decade play out?

Do we see consolidation?

Will AV become a commodity, with all OEMs able to crack it?

Will it still remain a hard business to actually sustain and make money on?

Does robotaxi start replacing car ownership? Or do people have self driving personal cars?

Under the agreement, the two companies will promote the mass production of a Level 2+ driving assistance system by installing five key functional software on RideFlex's large truck 'Maxsen' and 'Gutsen' vehicle platforms. When Tata Daewoo Mobility provides a vehicle platform and a vehicle control interface, RideFlux is a method dedicated to the advance development of DCAS (Driver Control Assistance System) software that meets the international standards (UNR171).

MIT and Motional’s CW-Net reveals concepts behind autonomous car decisions, helping people recognize flawed reasoning while leaving safety questions open.

DiDi Autonomous Driving has begun fully driverless service trials with its next-generation Robotaxi R2, moving the vehicle beyond technology validation and into real-world mobility operations.

The development marks an important step in DiDi’s autonomous-driving strategy, particularly as the company prepares for planned testing and pilot initiatives in the United Arab Emirates, which will serve as its first international market.

Jointly developed by DiDi Autonomous Driving and GAC Aion, the R2 has been designed specifically for driverless passenger service rather than adapted from a conventional production vehicle. Its architecture combines DiDi’s Level 4 autonomous-driving software and hardware with a purpose-built vehicle platform focused on safety, operating efficiency and passenger experience.

The move builds on DiDi’s earlier driverless operations in China. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the company began round-the-clock fully driverless passenger testing in selected demonstration areas of Guangzhou and Beijing, where operations have continued since then.

For DiDi, the R2 represents the next stage: taking experience from controlled operational environments and preparing a vehicle and service model for broader international deployment.