Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility<\/strong> \u2014 your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free \u2014 just click TechCrunch Mobility<\/a>!<\/p>\n I\u2019ve spent a decade covering Tesla<\/strong> and CEO Elon Musk<\/strong>, so it would be natural for me to weigh in here about the billionaire\u2019s public fallout with President Donald Trump<\/strong>. Plenty of other reporters, armchair analysts, influencers, and bloggers have already done that. Some of it is smart, while some of it misses the mark \u2014 by miles.<\/p>\n Since I have the benefit of institutional knowledge, and a helluva good memory, let me offer some brief reminders and predictions. We\u2019ve been here before \u2014 Musk has a long, well-documented history of creating seemingly strong alliances and then burning it all down.\u00a0<\/p>\n As senior reporter Tim De Chant noted, Elon is getting an introduction to politics<\/a>. The problem here is that Musk also embraces risk and gravitas \u2014 which means that learning something doesn\u2019t equate to his behavior changing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Expect a roller-coaster ride of tentative peace followed by public outbursts. Rinse. Repeat.<\/p>\n The implications of this fallout promise to be broad and will likely touch all of Musk\u2019s various enterprises. I will be monitoring how Tesla EV sales numbers fare and how the \u201cBig, Beautiful Bill\u201d will actually affect the automaker\u2019s business if it is passed into law.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the short term, I will be focused on Tesla\u2019s great robotaxi experiment in Austin, Texas, and how Musk\u2019s complicated and increasingly toxic relationship with the Trump administration affects his dealings with the Department of Transportation<\/strong>. Prior to his public breakup with Trump, Musk was lobbying lawmakers<\/a> on legislation related to autonomous vehicles \u2014 specifically over a bill introduced on May 15 called the Autonomous Vehicle Acceleration Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ever since Rivian<\/strong> spun out Also<\/strong>, a micromobility startup<\/a> that also received backing from Eclipse Ventures, we\u2019ve been poking around to find out more. A few little birds have been in touch and helped us better understand how the skunkworks program turned into a stand-alone company; they also revealed a surprising detail: Jony Ive\u2019s creative firm LoveFrom worked alongside Rivian\u2019s design team and the staff under the skunkworks program. Senior reporter Sean O\u2019Kane and I have the full scoop here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at <\/em>kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com<\/em><\/a> or my Signal at kkorosec.07, Sean O\u2019Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com<\/a>, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com<\/a>.<\/em> Or check out <\/em>these instructions<\/em><\/a> to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.<\/em><\/p>\n Memorandums of understanding rarely grab my attention. But this one did.<\/p>\n Joby Aviation<\/strong> and Saudi Arabian conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel<\/strong> signed a memorandum of understanding to explore a distribution agreement for up to 200 electric aircraft<\/a>. The tentative deal is notable because Abdul Latif Jameel is already an investor of Joby.\u00a0<\/p>\n If finalized, the partnership could provide Joby with a fast path to monetizing its electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles in Saudi Arabia. Turning an investor into a customer can complicate the relationship, too (just ask Amazon and Rivian.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Obvio<\/strong>, a California-based startup that is combining AI with cameras placed at stop signs to root out unsafe driving behavior, raised $22 million<\/a> in a Series A funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Obvio plans to use those funds to expand beyond the first five cities where it\u2019s currently operating in Maryland.\u00a0<\/p>\n Portless<\/strong>, an e-commerce fulfillment and logistics startup, raised $18 million<\/a> in a funding round led by Commerce Ventures, with participation from eGateway Capital, Ground Up Ventures, and FJ Labs. Portless uses a Shein-like business model and charges brands duties after an item sells, helping defer the cost of tariffs.<\/p>\n Toma<\/strong>, an AI voice startup that is applying its tools to car dealerships, raised $17 million<\/a> across a seed and Series A round led by a16z. Y Combinator (Toma was in YC\u2019s January 2024 cohort), the Scale Angels Fund, and auto industry influencer Yossi Levi, also known as the Car Dealership Guy, have backed the startup.\u00a0<\/p>\n Recent executive shuffling coupled with comments by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi<\/strong> don\u2019t just hint at the company\u2019s strategy. Nope, this is like a neon blinking sign and the word \u201cautonomy\u201d is at the center.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this week, Uber announced it had appointed Andrew \u201cMac\u201d Macdonald<\/strong> as president and chief operating officer. The company also announced the departure of Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, who ran Uber\u2019s delivery business.<\/p>\n Gore-Coty\u2019s responsibilities will slot under Macdonald, who has been with the company since 2012 and most recently led the mobility and business operations. Another tidbit worth mentioning: He launched Uber\u2019s Toronto operations 13 years ago and spearheaded its autonomous strategy.<\/p>\n Mac\u2019s new role will combine mobility, delivery, and autonomy.\u00a0<\/p>\n At a Bloomberg conference, Khosrowshahi<\/strong> was asked about AVs. He talked about building the AV ecosystem and Uber\u2019s stakes in companies (Aurora and Waabi) developing autonomous vehicle technology.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to essentially support the AV ecosystem and continue to help that ecosystem develop and then AVs penetrate into the marketplace,\u201d he said. \u201cAVs, we think, represent a safer way of transportation. Ultimately, we think it\u2019ll expand the marketplace as it makes kind of safe transportation cities available to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n In other Uber news, the company has added a new type of account with a simpler UI for older people<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tesla<\/strong> filed trademark applications<\/a> for the term \u201cTesla Robotaxi\u201d after the company\u2019s previous attempts to secure trademarks for its planned self-driving vehicle service hit roadblocks.<\/p>\n I missed this story<\/a> from Axios reporter Katie Fehrenbacher and wanted to mention it here. Last year, Redwood Materials<\/strong> quietly walked away from the Department of Energy<\/strong> (DOE) loan it had received conditional approval for. To date, Redwood has never received any federal funding.<\/p>\n I reached out to Redwood to understand why. Redwood initially applied for a DOE loan in 2021. The process dragged on and at considerable cost to Redwood. Companies that go through this process are responsible for paying the third-party consultants and experts hired to vet the business and technology. By 2024, Redwood was still on the conditional approval limbo. While it was waiting, the company raised more than $2 billion in private funding and generated nearly $200 million in revenue last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ultimately, Redwood determined that the costs and constraints of this loan outweighed its value.<\/p>\n Walmart<\/strong> and Alphabet\u2019s Wing<\/strong> are bringing drone delivery to thousands more customers. Wing, which already operates out of 18 Walmart Supercenters in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, is setting up shop in five more U.S. cities<\/a> through the partnership. In all, more than 100 stores will be added in Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa.<\/p>\n Trevor Milton<\/strong>, the recently pardoned founder of Nikola<\/strong>, has been fighting a subpoena<\/a> from the creditors of his bankrupt electric trucking company. Milton owed Nikola nearly $100 million before it filed for bankruptcy in February, which followed an arbitration case with the company in 2023 related to his criminal conviction that he lost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nA little bird<\/h2>\n
Deals!<\/h2>\n
![\"money](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/money-the-station.png?w=680\")
Other deals worth noting \u2026<\/h3>\n
What Uber\u2019s executive shuffling is telling us<\/h3>\n
Notable reads and other tidbits<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/the-station-ride-hailing1.png?w=680\")
Autonomous vehicles<\/h3>\n
Electric vehicles, batteries, & charging<\/h3>\n
Future of flight<\/h3>\n
People<\/h3>\n