News
GM’s Cruise secures first-ever permit to charge for self-driving car rides in California
General Motors’ Cruise became the first autonomous driving program to secure a permit to charge people to ride in a self-driving car after numerous objections from city officials in San Francisco.
Cruise won the approval with a unanimous 4-0 vote by the California Public Utilities Commission late last evening, a report from Reuters stated.
San Francisco is a hotbed for self-driving test vehicle programs, but Cruise became the first to secure the permit. Cruise will launch paid services within the next few weeks, it said. Its fleet will be comprised of 30 driverless Chevrolet Bolt vehicles.
Cruise autonomous vehicles utilize 40+ sensors to provide the cars with a 360-degree view. It can also map the location of surrounding objects within centimeters, the company’s website states.
PUC Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen said during the meeting to approve GM’s Cruise for driverless operation that the panel was being cautious by “taking a careful, incremental approach” to regulating fully autonomous vehicles. “This resolution marks another important step in that effort,” Rechtschaffen said. “It will allow our staff to continue to gather very important data that will support the development of future phases.”
Initially, cars in the fleet will be limited to a 30 MPH top speed, restricted to an area that avoids downtown, and will only be allowed to operate between the hours of 10 PM and 6 AM. The vehicles will not be operational during heavy fog, precipitation, or smoke and will not be allowed on highways at any point. The restrictions came as a result of concerns from San Francisco fire, police, and transit officials, who wanted regulators to impose restrictions on the capabilities of the program before allowing it to carry paying passengers. The fire, police, and transit officials are hoping to require further approval to expand the fleet.
Concerns from San Francisco FD members were valid and related to an April incident where a Cruise autonomous test vehicle blocked a firetruck that was en route to a three-alarm fire. Another incident where a Police Officer pulled over a Cruise vehicle, which appeared to then drive off before the cop was finished with the traffic stop, also raised concerns. Cruiser said the cars made safe decisions.
The autonomous ride-hailing service market is expected to grow in value from $48,922.78 million in 2021 to $98,745.11 million in 2028, a report from ResearchandMarkets.com said. It is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.6 percent from 2021 to 2028. “The global ride-hailing service market is segmented on the basis of service type, vehicle type, location, end-user, and geography,” the report states. On the basis of service type, the market is segmented into e-hailing, car sharing, car rental, and station-based mobility. The rising proliferation of smartphones and internet connectivity is driving the demand for e-hailing services across the globe.”
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Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s xAI brings 1GW Colossus 2 AI training cluster online
Elon Musk shared his update in a recent post on social media platform X.
xAI has brought its Colossus 2 supercomputer online, making it the first gigawatt-scale AI training cluster in the world, and it’s about to get even bigger in a few months.
Elon Musk shared his update in a recent post on social media platform X.
Colossus 2 goes live
The Colossus 2 supercomputer, together with its predecessor, Colossus 1, are used by xAI to primarily train and refine the company’s Grok large language model. In a post on X, Musk stated that Colossus 2 is already operational, making it the first gigawatt training cluster in the world.
But what’s even more remarkable is that it would be upgraded to 1.5 GW of power in April. Even in its current iteration, however, the Colossus 2 supercomputer already exceeds the peak demand of San Francisco.
Commentary from users of the social media platform highlighted the speed of execution behind the project. Colossus 1 went from site preparation to full operation in 122 days, while Colossus 2 went live by crossing the 1-GW barrier and is targeting a total capacity of roughly 2 GW. This far exceeds the speed of xAI’s primary rivals.
Funding fuels rapid expansion
xAI’s Colossus 2 launch follows xAI’s recently closed, upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, which exceeded its initial $15 billion target. The company said the capital will be used to accelerate infrastructure scaling and AI product development.
The round attracted a broad group of investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group. Strategic partners NVIDIA and Cisco also continued their support, helping xAI build what it describes as the world’s largest GPU clusters.
xAI said the funding will accelerate its infrastructure buildout, enable rapid deployment of AI products to billions of users, and support research tied to its mission of understanding the universe. The company noted that its Colossus 1 and 2 systems now represent more than one million H100 GPU equivalents, alongside recent releases including the Grok 4 series, Grok Voice, and Grok Imagine. Training is also already underway for its next flagship model, Grok 5.
Elon Musk
Tesla AI5 chip nears completion, Elon Musk teases 9-month development cadence
The Tesla CEO shared his recent insights in a post on social media platform X.
Tesla’s next-generation AI5 chip is nearly complete, and work on its successor is already underway, as per a recent update from Elon Musk.
The Tesla CEO shared his recent insights in a post on social media platform X.
Musk details AI chip roadmap
In his post, Elon Musk stated that Tesla’s AI5 chip design is “almost done,” while AI6 has already entered early development. Musk added that Tesla plans to continue iterating rapidly, with AI7, AI8, AI9, and future generations targeting a nine-month design cycle.
He also noted that Tesla’s in-house chips could become the highest-volume AI processors in the world. Musk framed his update as a recruiting message, encouraging engineers to join Tesla’s AI and chip development teams.
Tesla community member Herbert Ong highlighted the strategic importance of the timeline, noting that faster chip cycles enable quicker learning, faster iteration, and a compounding advantage in AI and autonomy that becomes increasingly difficult for competitors to close.
AI5 manufacturing takes shape
Musk’s comments align with earlier reporting on AI5’s production plans. In December, it was reported that Samsung is preparing to manufacture Tesla’s AI5 chip, accelerating hiring for experienced engineers to support U.S. production and address complex foundry challenges.
Samsung is one of two suppliers selected for AI5, alongside TSMC. The companies are expected to produce different versions of the AI5 chip, with TSMC reportedly using a 3nm process and Samsung using a 2nm process.
Musk has previously stated that while different foundries translate chip designs into physical silicon in different ways, the goal is for both versions of the Tesla AI5 chip to operate identically. AI5 will succeed Tesla’s current AI4 hardware, formerly known as Hardware 4, and is expected to support the company’s Full Self-Driving system as well as other AI-driven efforts, including Optimus.
News
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.
The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.
The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring.
This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.
The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.
ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.
“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.
“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.
Elon Musk’s xAI brings 1GW Colossus 2 AI training cluster online
Tesla AI5 chip nears completion, Elon Musk teases 9-month development cadence
