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Zoox plans to put its robotaxis on the Uber app in Vegas this year | TechCrunch

Zoox plans to put its robotaxis on the Uber app in Vegas this year | TechCrunch

Amazon-owned Zoox plans to make its robotaxis available to hail on the Uber app in Las Vegas later this year, the two companies announced Wednesday.

Before that happens, though, Zoox still needs approval from the federal government to commercially deploy its robotaxis, which don’t have a steering wheel or pedals. That requires exemptions from the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). On Wednesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began taking public comment on Zoox’s application for those exemptions. (Zoox currently has an exemption that allows the custom-built robotaxis to operate as a demonstration, and not commercially.)

If and when Zoox gets approval, the company plans to launch its own commercial robotaxi service first, and before making the vehicles available on Uber in Las Vegas, it told TechCrunch. Zoox currently offers free rides in Las Vegas and in San Francisco. It’s also mapping and building up a presence in eight other U.S. cities, including Dallas and Phoenix, which were announced earlier this week.

Zoox and Uber described this as a “multi-year strategic partnership,” that includes plans to launch in Los Angeles in 2027.

This is Zoox’s first third-party partnership with a platform like Uber. But it’s certainly not Uber’s first partnership with an autonomous vehicle company. Uber has partnerships with more than 25 different autonomous vehicle companies around the world. Its most notable deal is with Waymo, which makes its robotaxis available on the Uber platform in Austin and Atlanta. Uber has also partnered with China’s Baidu and announced it would start testing those self-driving cars in London this year. The ride-hail giant has AV partnerships with Volkswagen, May Mobility, and Pony AI, too.

Uber has also been building out new offerings for these robotaxi partners. In January, TechCrunch revealed the company started up an “AV Labs” division dedicated to collecting real-world driving data to reinforce its partners’ autonomous systems. Last month, Uber announced it had created a division called Uber Autonomous Solutions that can provide operational, software, and support services.

Zoox is seeking exemptions from eight of the FMVSS, including the standards that require a vehicle to have windshield defrosting systems and windshield wipers. NHTSA will take public comments for 30 days, but it’s not clear when the federal safety agency will make a ruling.

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At an autonomous vehicle safety hearing held on Tuesday, NHTSA chief Jonathan Morrison sounded eager to move forward with a more explicit regulatory scheme for self-driving cars.

“We think it’s past time to get past the hand-waving and hype, and are finally doing the necessary, hard policy work to provide appropriate and robust oversight over this sector while removing unnecessary and unintended barriers to innovation that currently exists,” he said. “This will not be easy, but I firmly believe that it is within our grasp, and we at NHTSA are moving with a great sense of urgency to get it done.”

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Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once famously said a touchscreen MacBook was never going to happen, but that was a long time ago, and things are changing.

A leaker known as Instant Digital, known for some eerily accurate Apple-related predictions, seemed certain about it in a recent Weibo post (via MacRumors).

“It’s 100% confirmed that the MacBook screen will be touch-enabled,” he wrote.

The leaker did not add any other details, so we don’t know which version of the MacBook is getting the touchscreen, nor when this is supposed to happen. But the post builds on previous reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, with both previously stating that Apple is working on a touchscreen variant of the MacBook.

Rumors about such a device have circulated for years, though, and nothing ever came to fruition. Gurman’s report dates February 2026, and back then he said the initial batch of touch-enabled Macs are coming “this fall.” Gurman said the company would be pretty lax about the touchscreen, allowing the users to use it as much or as little they’d like, instead of positioning the Mac as a better version of the iPad.

Apple is also rumored to launch a high-end “MacBook Ultra” later this year; this top-of-the-line device should come with Apple’s most powerful chips, an OLED display, and it might be the first one to be touch-enabled.

#Apples #touchscreen #MacBook #happening #report #claims">Apple’s touchscreen MacBook is definitely happening, report claims
                                                            Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once famously said a touchscreen MacBook was never going to happen, but that was a long time ago, and things are changing. A leaker known as Instant Digital, known for some eerily accurate Apple-related predictions, seemed certain about it in a recent Weibo post (via MacRumors). “It’s 100% confirmed that the MacBook screen will be touch-enabled,” he wrote. 
        
            Mashable Light Speed
        
        
    

The leaker did not add any other details, so we don’t know which version of the MacBook is getting the touchscreen, nor when this is supposed to happen. But the post builds on previous reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, with both previously stating that Apple is working on a touchscreen variant of the MacBook. Rumors about such a device have circulated for years, though, and nothing ever came to fruition. Gurman’s report dates February 2026, and back then he said the initial batch of touch-enabled Macs are coming “this fall.” Gurman said the company would be pretty lax about the touchscreen, allowing the users to use it as much or as little they’d like, instead of positioning the Mac as a better version of the iPad. 

        SEE ALSO:
        
            Apple’s WWDC 2026 recap: What did Apple announce?
            
        
    
Apple is also rumored to launch a high-end “MacBook Ultra” later this year; this top-of-the-line device should come with Apple’s most powerful chips, an OLED display, and it might be the first one to be touch-enabled.

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #Apples #touchscreen #MacBook #happening #report #claims

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once famously said a touchscreen MacBook was never going to happen, but that was a long time ago, and things are changing.

A leaker known as Instant Digital, known for some eerily accurate Apple-related predictions, seemed certain about it in a recent Weibo post (via MacRumors).

“It’s 100% confirmed that the MacBook screen will be touch-enabled,” he wrote.

The leaker did not add any other details, so we don’t know which version of the MacBook is getting the touchscreen, nor when this is supposed to happen. But the post builds on previous reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, with both previously stating that Apple is working on a touchscreen variant of the MacBook.

Rumors about such a device have circulated for years, though, and nothing ever came to fruition. Gurman’s report dates February 2026, and back then he said the initial batch of touch-enabled Macs are coming “this fall.” Gurman said the company would be pretty lax about the touchscreen, allowing the users to use it as much or as little they’d like, instead of positioning the Mac as a better version of the iPad.

Apple is also rumored to launch a high-end “MacBook Ultra” later this year; this top-of-the-line device should come with Apple’s most powerful chips, an OLED display, and it might be the first one to be touch-enabled.

#Apples #touchscreen #MacBook #happening #report #claims">Apple’s touchscreen MacBook is definitely happening, report claims

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once famously said a touchscreen MacBook was never going to happen, but that was a long time ago, and things are changing.

A leaker known as Instant Digital, known for some eerily accurate Apple-related predictions, seemed certain about it in a recent Weibo post (via MacRumors).

“It’s 100% confirmed that the MacBook screen will be touch-enabled,” he wrote.

The leaker did not add any other details, so we don’t know which version of the MacBook is getting the touchscreen, nor when this is supposed to happen. But the post builds on previous reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, with both previously stating that Apple is working on a touchscreen variant of the MacBook.

Rumors about such a device have circulated for years, though, and nothing ever came to fruition. Gurman’s report dates February 2026, and back then he said the initial batch of touch-enabled Macs are coming “this fall.” Gurman said the company would be pretty lax about the touchscreen, allowing the users to use it as much or as little they’d like, instead of positioning the Mac as a better version of the iPad.

Apple is also rumored to launch a high-end “MacBook Ultra” later this year; this top-of-the-line device should come with Apple’s most powerful chips, an OLED display, and it might be the first one to be touch-enabled.

#Apples #touchscreen #MacBook #happening #report #claims

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