This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s LiDAR controversy following an incident in a Santa Monica school zone, the potential of a mega merger between Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, and Waabi’s $750 million capital raise to pivot into robotaxis.

The conversation heats up as Walt and Grayson debate the efficacy of LiDAR versus camera-only approaches, questioning if sensor fusion latency contributed to the Waymo incident where a child ran out from behind a vehicle.

While Waymo handles the incident in Santa Monica, Tesla is further accelerating their shift to an autonomy/robotics company by shutting down Model S and Model X lines for Optimus Gen 3 humanoids.

Looking at the broader market, Grayson and Walt analyze Waabi’s strategic expansion from trucking into robotaxis, with Walt drawing parallels to early industry pivots and Grayson questioning the viability of managing two distinct autonomy programs.

On the Foreign Autonomy Desk, they highlight Waymo’s recent launch party in London, noting the imported vehicles still feature American driving configurations, and discuss Pony.ai’s partnership to deploy 3,000 robotaxis in mainland China.

Episode Chapters

0:00 Waymo Opens SFO Airport Access

5:45 Waymo’s Santa Monica Incident

16:27 Tesla Earnings and New Robotaxi Markets

22:04 David Moss’ Austin Robotaxi Adventures

24:12 Robotaxi’s Enchanced Camera Cleaning System

26:38 Inspector Uncovers, Walt Warns

27:43 The Potential Great Elon Merger

30:35 Waabi Raises $750m, Pivots to Robotaxis

39:27 Does Uber Reboot ATG?

42:55 Plus AI Analyst Day

50:01 Foreign Autonomy Desk

53:18 Next Week

Recorded on Friday, January 30, 2026

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About The Road to Autonomy

The Road to Autonomy provides market intelligence and strategic advisory services to institutional investors and companies, delivering insights needed to stay ahead of emerging trends in the autonomy economy™. To learn more, say hello (at) roadtoautonomy.com.

Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

David Liu, CEO of Plus AI joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discus taking the company public and their strategic roadmap for commercializing autonomous trucking.

As Plus AI prepares to complete their merger with Churchill Capital Corp IX in early February, the conversation explores the shift from fleet trials to an asset-light software model that empowers Traton to build factory-integrated autonomous trucks powered by the Plus virtual driver.

By training a single AI driver on a vast, globally diverse dataset, encompassing conditions from snowy Sweden to the Texas Triangle, Plus AI is developing a scalable technology stack designed to safely automate the global freight industry, as the company targets a 2027 commercial launch.

Episode Chapters

0:00 Going Public

1:33 Fleet Trials

6:01 Driver-Out Decision

7:56 Traton Partnership

11:27 Redundant Chassis

14:01 Public Milestones

16:43 Asset Ownership

18:14 Expanding in Spain and Japan

23:00 Real-world Driving Data

26:16 Simulation

27:43 Alpha Data

29:02 Traton R&D Investment

33:01 What to Watch For as Plus AI Goes Public

Recorded on Friday, January 23, 2026

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About The Road to Autonomy

The Road to Autonomy provides market intelligence and strategic advisory services to institutional investors and companies, delivering insights needed to stay ahead of emerging trends in the autonomy economy™. To learn more, say hello (at) roadtoautonomy.com.

Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Tesla officially removing safety attendants from Robotaxis in Austin, Waymo’s commercial launch in Miami, and Serve Robotics’ strategic acquisition of Diligent Robotics.

It finally happened. Tesla has removed safety attendants from a select group of vehicles in Austin. While this initial fleet is limited and operating in a specific geofence and utilizing chase cars, Grayson and Walt view this as a critical validation of the technology.

Looking ahead, Grayson predicts the operational domain will expand significantly in Austin over the next 60 days, with the Phoenix metro region slated as the next target market for deployment. As Tesla went safety attendant-out, Waymoopened the Miami market for limited commercial service within a 60-square-mile area, with one major caveat, no Miami Beach.

On the Foreign Autonomy Desk, Grayson and Walt discuss Geely’s plan to deploy 100,000 methanol-powered robotaxis in China and the South Korean government’s selection of Gwangju as the nation’s first dedicated autonomous vehicle testing zone.

Episode Chapters

0:00 Tesla Removes Safety Attendant in Austin

9:19 Operational Efficiency

10:33 Alex Roy Goes Coast-to-Coast with Zero FSD Interventions

14:15 Drive on FSD, Get a Discount

18:25 FSD is Expanding as Prices are Increasing

23:31 New Robotaxi Markets

24:53 Waymo Launches Miami Markets

28:33 Vandalizing Waymo's

32:20 Serve Robotics Acquires Diligent Robotics

36:41 Foreign Autonomy Desk

39:21 Next Week

Recorded on Friday, January 23, 2026

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About The Road to Autonomy

The Road to Autonomy provides market intelligence and strategic advisory services to institutional investors and companies, delivering insights needed to stay ahead of emerging trends in the autonomy economy™. To learn more, say hello (at) roadtoautonomy.com.

Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.