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This week, we’re changing things up to spotlight the conversations both onstage and behind the scenes at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. The event was packed with influential leaders and innovators shaping the future of mobility.
Some of the notable names included: Waymo’s co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, Slate’s CEO Chris Barman, Nuro’s co-CEO and founder Dave Ferguson, Uber’s CPO Sachin Kansal, Wayve’s founder and CEO Alex Kendall, and Kodiak AI’s founder and CEO Don Burnette. You’ll find videos of these interviews on our YouTube channel throughout the week.
The conversation between Sean O’Kane and Chris Barman from Slate Auto is already online. If you tune in, listen for Barman’s thoughts on the customizable accessories for any Slate EV. The company will design, manufacture, and sell these add-ons, but they’ll also provide the data so owners can create their own—and even sell them to other users.
“We’ll make all the data available so anyone can 3D print their own,” Barman explained. “We don’t want people to feel obligated to buy from us. Our aim is to foster a community, which will be hosted on our Slate marketplace.”
O’Kane followed up by asking if Slate would collect a fee when creators list accessories on the Slate marketplace.
“Yes, we’ll charge a fee when we collaborate with them,” she replied, clarifying that creators are free to sell elsewhere without Slate taking a share. “If they prefer, they can list it on Etsy. The choice is entirely theirs. We’re not going to tie them exclusively to us.”
Other highlights: San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie expressed enthusiasm about Waymo operating in the city and encouraged other companies to use San Francisco as a proving ground for autonomous vehicles. Transportation startup Glīd was named the winner of Startup Battlefield 2025. And Sean O’Kane and I experienced a demo ride in a Wayve vehicle through San Francisco’s streets.
Mawakana also shared several noteworthy points onstage, including her belief that companies developing autonomous vehicles must do more to demonstrate safety, and that the public would accept a robotaxi-related fatality if it meant overall safety improvements.
She further stated that Waymo intends to pursue individuals who damage its vehicles and that the company has denied—and will continue to deny—government requests for footage from its cars if those requests are “overly broad.”
Deals!
Image Credits:Bryce Durbin
Aviation digital fuel management company i6 secured $20 million in Series B funding, with Yttrium leading the round. International Airlines Group, World Kinect, and Shell Ventures also participated.
IntrCity SmartBus, an Indian tech-driven intercity bus service, raised $30 million to broaden its reach in smaller cities and towns across South Asia. The Series D round, led by A91 Partners, values the Noida-based company at $140 million post-investment.
Navan, a platform for business travel and expenses, ended its first day on the Nasdaq down 20% from its $25 IPO price, giving it a market value of roughly $4.7 billion.
Pavewise, a startup focused on road construction technology, brought in $2.5 million in seed funding led by C2 Ventures. Other backers included Connectic, Service Provider Capital, Geoff Judge, former Ryvit CEO Tom Stemm, M25, gener8tor 1889, and Broadwater Capital.
Ridepanda, which offers e-bike and scooter fleets on a subscription basis to businesses, raised $12.6 million in a Series A round led by Germany’s Bikeleasing Group. Other investors included Blackhorn Ventures, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Proeza Ventures, and Somersault Ventures.
Notable reads and other tidbits
Image Credits:Bryce Durbin
Aurora has launched a new 600-mile autonomous trucking route from Fort Worth, Texas, to El Paso, marking its second such route. The company also unveiled its next-generation hardware details.
India, a market that BlaBlaCar once exited, has now become its largest.
General Motors is cutting thousands of jobs at several electric vehicle and battery facilities across the U.S.
Luminar is facing new difficulties after its founder and CEO Austin Russell was ousted by the board. A recent regulatory filing indicates the company could run out of funds by early 2026 and has announced a 25% workforce reduction. The CFO has also departed.
Nvidia made headlines in transportation this week by announcing collaborations with Stellantis, Uber, and Foxconn to co-develop autonomous vehicles. This was part of a larger reveal for Nvidia’s new Drive AGX Hyperion 10 platform and Drive software, which will be adopted by various automakers, suppliers, and robotaxi companies—including Lucid, Mercedes, and Stellantis. The platform supports Uber’s ambition to scale its autonomous fleet to 100,000 vehicles globally, starting in 2027.
Backstage at TechCrunch Disrupt, Wayve’s Alex Kendall shared his enthusiasm for Hyperion, mentioning that he, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang have been urging automakers to adopt it. “Ideally, we’d like to see more manufacturers building vehicles on the Hyperion platform, as it enables everything we’re aiming for.”
Uber has chosen San Francisco to introduce a premium robotaxi service in 2026, using Lucid Motors’ all-electric Gravity SUVs powered by Nuro’s autonomous technology—a move that puts Uber in direct competition with Waymo. For reference, Uber is also collaborating with Waymo in other markets.
Waabi unveiled a new autonomous truck developed with Volvo at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025.
One more thing …
In last week’s newsletter, we ran a poll to further explore business models for autonomous vehicles, asking: Which business model is best suited for “longer haul” autonomous vehicle applications?
The options were: self-driving Class 8 trucks covering over 500 miles on highways, or middle-mile delivery—autonomous trucks running between warehouses and distribution centers.
A clear majority of readers—62.5%—favored the long-haul truck model. (If you’d like to participate in future polls, sign up for the Mobility newsletter here.)
Image Credits:Kirsten Korosec
I’ll leave you with one last photo. This image of me and senior reporter Sean O’Kane marks a full-circle moment for us. O’Kane, with some help from me, spent months uncovering a major scoop about Jeff Bezos backing a then-little-known startup called Slate. Since then, Slate has revealed plans for a more affordable electric truck and has attracted significant attention.
Not only did Slate CEO Chris Barman join us onstage for an interview, but she also brought along a truck wrapped in TechCrunch branding.
