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A quick bit of breaking news that hit just as we were about to send this newsletter out. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into Waymo after its robotaxis have been spotted illegally passing stopped school buses numerous times in at least two states. Read the full story here.
Now onto our regular programming …
Tesla made a couple of moves this week — and just before its quarterly earnings drops — designed to show its progress, and even dominance, in automated driving technology. But, hold up, there is more to it than mere optics.
The week started with Tesla offering passengers robotaxi rides in Austin without a human safety driver in the front seat. If you recall, Tesla launched a limited service in Austin last year with a fleet of modified Tesla Model Y vehicles running a more advanced version of the company’s driving software known as Full Self-Driving Supervised (this one being “unsupervised”). Human safety operators have been riding in the front passenger seat as a precaution since the rollout.
Not all of Tesla’s fleet in Austin will be fully driverless, and there is apparently a chase vehicle behind those that are. Still, it is notable and suggests Tesla is moving toward a broader ramp-up.
Meanwhile, Tesla has killed Autopilot, the advanced driver-assistance system that was initially introduced to its vehicles in 2014. Autopilot has gone through several software and hardware iterations over the years with new capabilities.
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Autopilot was instantly popular and controversial, in part because the name implied the system was more capable than it actually was. (Drivers are responsible and are supposed to have their hands on the wheel when Autopilot is engaged.)
Tesla eventually made a basic Autopilot system standard in all of its vehicles, while launching and charging for a more robust system known now as Full Self-Driving (Supervised). The basic version, which is now dead, included traffic-aware cruise control, in which the vehicle maintains a set distance with cars ahead, and Autosteer, a feature that centers the vehicle in the lane and steers it.
Its decision to kill what was standard ADAS comes one week after Tesla said it would stop charging a one-time $8,000 fee for the FSD software and move all customers to a monthly subscription.
These decisions when taken together offer a simple enough explanation: Tesla wants to recognize more revenue from FSD as it positions itself as an AI and robotics company.
But there is another possible reason. The company is facing a 30-day suspension of its manufacturing and dealer licenses in California after a judge ruled in December that Tesla engaged in deceptive marketing by overstating the capabilities of Autopilot and FSD.
The ruling has been stayed for 60 days to allow Tesla to comply. Dropping the Autopilot name while cashing in on FSD is a rather bold move. But perhaps Tesla believes this is enough to satiate the DMV.
Deals!
Zipline, the autonomous drone-delivery and logistics startup, has been around for more than a decade, starting in Rwanda delivering blood. Its progress has been slow and steady, notching wins in other African countries and expanding to the United States. That trajectory sped up after it launched a new drone platform in 2025 called P2 that focuses on home delivery of food and other goods.
Now, fueled with $600 million in new funding, its expansion ambitions have grown. The company, which is now valued at $7.6 billion, is bringing its service to Houston and Phoenix and plans to expand to at least four more U.S. states in 2026.
Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Valor Equity Partners, and Tiger Global participated in the funding round.
Other deals that got my attention …
ABZ Innovation, a Europe-based maker of heavy-duty agricultural and industrial drones, raised $8.2 million in a funding round led by Vsquared Ventures, with participation from Assembly Ventures and Day One Capital.
Ethernovia, a San Jose, California-based startup that makes Ethernet-based systems for autonomous vehicles, raised $90 million in a Series B funding round led by Maverick Silicon — an AI-focused fund created in 2024 by hedge fund Maverick Capital.
Serve Robotics, the sidewalk delivery robot company backed by Nvidia and Uber, acquired Diligent Robotics in a deal that values the common stock at $29 million. Diligent builds robots named Moxi that are designed to assist in hospitals by delivering lab samples, supplies, and other tasks. Note: Watch for more autonomous vehicle tech-robotics crossovers in the coming year.
Terralayr, a German grid-scale battery storage company, raised €192 million in a round led by Eurazeo. RIVE Private Investment, Creandum, Earlybird, Norrsken VC, and Picus Capital also participated.
TrueCar founder Scott Painter reacquired the company in a $227 million deal through his firm Fair Holdings, and partners AutoNation, PenFed Credit Union, Zurich North America, and others. TrueCar will no longer be publicly traded, and Painter has returned to the CEO spot.
Notable reads and other tidbits
Austin Russell, the founder and former CEO of bankrupt lidar company Luminar, agreed to accept an electronic subpoena for information on his phone pertaining to the company. The subpoena is related to Luminar’s ongoing bankruptcy proceeding.
Chinese automaker Geely Holding Group released its five-year blueprint, and among its many goals is a section on robotaxis. The company said that by 2030 its Cao Cao Mobility ride-hailing unit will operate a fleet of 100,000 robotaxis covering major cities in China. It also hinted at plans to expand beyond China “in the future.”
General Motors is moving production of two gas-powered vehicles away from China and Mexico and to a U.S. factory in Kansas. That change will also mean the end of its rebooted Chevrolet Bolt EV, the only vehicle currently built at the Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas. Read more to learn when production of the Chevy Bolt EV will end.
Tesla aims to restart work on Dojo3, the company’s previously abandoned third-generation AI chip. Dojo3 won’t be aimed at training self-driving models. Instead, CEO Elon Musk says it will be dedicated to “space-based AI compute.”
Waymo has opened its robotaxi service in Miami. Riders will be accepted on a rolling basis, to the nearly 10,000 local residents on its waitlist.
One more thing …
Alex Roy, who co-hosts the Autonocast with me and Ed Niedermeyer, just traveled from Los Angeles to New York in a Tesla Model S, in which the vehicle’s Full Self-Driving Supervised software handled all of the driving. This “Cannonball Run” route is one Roy is familiar with; he set the transcontinental driving record in 2007 when he traveled the route in 31 hours and 4 minutes. He has gone on to make other Cannonball Run records in EVs. Others have followed and since beaten those records.
According to Roy, who captured the entire run on video, the FSD (version 14.2.2.3) drove 100% of the 3,081-mile journey. That included exiting the highway and parking at EV chargers. The time was 58 hours, 22 minutes.
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![How the Hands Behind Rocky Got Hired for ‘Project Hail Mary’
Project Hail Mary has only been in theaters for a few weeks, but its alien star, Rocky, has already become a legend. He’s got merch, hundreds of millions in box office dollars, and was even quoted during the Artemis 2 space mission. And to think it all began with puppeteer James Ortiz walking a hand-sized puppet all over Ryan Gosling’s body. The Los Angeles Times recently posted a lovely little profile on Ortiz, who has been a successful, well-known puppeteer long before his work as both the puppeteer and voice of Rocky in Project Hail Mary. So when he got called in to audition to help bring the character to life, he didn’t use the larger-sized puppet the filmmakers had made. No, instead, he used a smaller puppet of his own creation that apparently looks oddly familiar.
“For a chemistry read with Gosling, with the film’s producers also present, Ortiz opted for using a version of Rocky he had made himself, which looked like Thing from The Addams Family; built off a fancy glove, instead of the larger puppet the production had available,” the article says. “That his hand version of Rocky could climb onto Gosling, and interact with the actor more directly, allowed for an amusing rapport to develop instantly between them.” Once he had the job, the Rocky puppet that would be in the movie was designed by famed creature creator Neal Scanlan. Ortiz, though, being a seasoned pro himself, also provided input. “I had, ultimately, a lot of input, never on how Rocky looked, but a lot on how he was operated and what materials he was made out of,” Ortiz told the Times. “I was able to pick what types of fiberglass we were using to cast him out of, because I knew, given the amount of improvisation that we would be doing on set, [that] I needed a puppet that could do anything.”
And, we think, the results speak for themselves. Read more about Ortiz’s journey to Project Hail Mary over at the LA Times. The film is still in theaters. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Hands #Rocky #Hired #Project #Hail #MaryJames Ortiz,Project Hail Mary](https://i1.wp.com/gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/04/James-Ortiz-Rocky-Project-Hail-Mary-1280x853.jpg?ssl=1 "How the Hands Behind Rocky Got Hired for ‘Project Hail Mary’
Project Hail Mary has only been in theaters for a few weeks, but its alien star, Rocky, has already become a legend. He’s got merch, hundreds of millions in box office dollars, and was even quoted during the Artemis 2 space mission. And to think it all began with puppeteer James Ortiz walking a hand-sized puppet all over Ryan Gosling’s body. The Los Angeles Times recently posted a lovely little profile on Ortiz, who has been a successful, well-known puppeteer long before his work as both the puppeteer and voice of Rocky in Project Hail Mary. So when he got called in to audition to help bring the character to life, he didn’t use the larger-sized puppet the filmmakers had made. No, instead, he used a smaller puppet of his own creation that apparently looks oddly familiar.
“For a chemistry read with Gosling, with the film’s producers also present, Ortiz opted for using a version of Rocky he had made himself, which looked like Thing from The Addams Family; built off a fancy glove, instead of the larger puppet the production had available,” the article says. “That his hand version of Rocky could climb onto Gosling, and interact with the actor more directly, allowed for an amusing rapport to develop instantly between them.” Once he had the job, the Rocky puppet that would be in the movie was designed by famed creature creator Neal Scanlan. Ortiz, though, being a seasoned pro himself, also provided input. “I had, ultimately, a lot of input, never on how Rocky looked, but a lot on how he was operated and what materials he was made out of,” Ortiz told the Times. “I was able to pick what types of fiberglass we were using to cast him out of, because I knew, given the amount of improvisation that we would be doing on set, [that] I needed a puppet that could do anything.”
And, we think, the results speak for themselves. Read more about Ortiz’s journey to Project Hail Mary over at the LA Times. The film is still in theaters. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Hands #Rocky #Hired #Project #Hail #MaryJames Ortiz,Project Hail Mary")
![How the Hands Behind Rocky Got Hired for ‘Project Hail Mary’
Project Hail Mary has only been in theaters for a few weeks, but its alien star, Rocky, has already become a legend. He’s got merch, hundreds of millions in box office dollars, and was even quoted during the Artemis 2 space mission. And to think it all began with puppeteer James Ortiz walking a hand-sized puppet all over Ryan Gosling’s body. The Los Angeles Times recently posted a lovely little profile on Ortiz, who has been a successful, well-known puppeteer long before his work as both the puppeteer and voice of Rocky in Project Hail Mary. So when he got called in to audition to help bring the character to life, he didn’t use the larger-sized puppet the filmmakers had made. No, instead, he used a smaller puppet of his own creation that apparently looks oddly familiar.
“For a chemistry read with Gosling, with the film’s producers also present, Ortiz opted for using a version of Rocky he had made himself, which looked like Thing from The Addams Family; built off a fancy glove, instead of the larger puppet the production had available,” the article says. “That his hand version of Rocky could climb onto Gosling, and interact with the actor more directly, allowed for an amusing rapport to develop instantly between them.” Once he had the job, the Rocky puppet that would be in the movie was designed by famed creature creator Neal Scanlan. Ortiz, though, being a seasoned pro himself, also provided input. “I had, ultimately, a lot of input, never on how Rocky looked, but a lot on how he was operated and what materials he was made out of,” Ortiz told the Times. “I was able to pick what types of fiberglass we were using to cast him out of, because I knew, given the amount of improvisation that we would be doing on set, [that] I needed a puppet that could do anything.”
And, we think, the results speak for themselves. Read more about Ortiz’s journey to Project Hail Mary over at the LA Times. The film is still in theaters. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Hands #Rocky #Hired #Project #Hail #MaryJames Ortiz,Project Hail Mary](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/04/James-Ortiz-Rocky-Project-Hail-Mary-1280x853.jpg "How the Hands Behind Rocky Got Hired for ‘Project Hail Mary’
Project Hail Mary has only been in theaters for a few weeks, but its alien star, Rocky, has already become a legend. He’s got merch, hundreds of millions in box office dollars, and was even quoted during the Artemis 2 space mission. And to think it all began with puppeteer James Ortiz walking a hand-sized puppet all over Ryan Gosling’s body. The Los Angeles Times recently posted a lovely little profile on Ortiz, who has been a successful, well-known puppeteer long before his work as both the puppeteer and voice of Rocky in Project Hail Mary. So when he got called in to audition to help bring the character to life, he didn’t use the larger-sized puppet the filmmakers had made. No, instead, he used a smaller puppet of his own creation that apparently looks oddly familiar.
“For a chemistry read with Gosling, with the film’s producers also present, Ortiz opted for using a version of Rocky he had made himself, which looked like Thing from The Addams Family; built off a fancy glove, instead of the larger puppet the production had available,” the article says. “That his hand version of Rocky could climb onto Gosling, and interact with the actor more directly, allowed for an amusing rapport to develop instantly between them.” Once he had the job, the Rocky puppet that would be in the movie was designed by famed creature creator Neal Scanlan. Ortiz, though, being a seasoned pro himself, also provided input. “I had, ultimately, a lot of input, never on how Rocky looked, but a lot on how he was operated and what materials he was made out of,” Ortiz told the Times. “I was able to pick what types of fiberglass we were using to cast him out of, because I knew, given the amount of improvisation that we would be doing on set, [that] I needed a puppet that could do anything.”
And, we think, the results speak for themselves. Read more about Ortiz’s journey to Project Hail Mary over at the LA Times. The film is still in theaters. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Hands #Rocky #Hired #Project #Hail #MaryJames Ortiz,Project Hail Mary")
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