When it comes to relationships, even the business kind, sometimes you just have to make nice. That’s what Tesla’s Elon Musk did this week, when he expressed regret about sounding a bit overtaxed during an ultimately upbeat quarterly earnings call for the tumultuous electric carmaker. He’s still in the depths of production hell, you see.Meanwhile, the autonomous developers at Waymo decided to make friends with public transit officials in Phoenix, agreeing to work with them to ensure their driverless vehicles work for seniors and writers with disabilities. And in Sacramento, officials are opening their doors, er, streets to all the Bay Area self-driving developers who are sick of the fog and high housing costs.It’s been a week. Let’s get you caught up.
Headlines
Stories you might have missed from WIRED this week
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk, not usually one to apologize, did just that on a quarterly earnings call with investors this week, acknowledging he had been “impolite” on his last call with the group. Fortunately, senior writer Jack Stewart reports, Musk also came with good news: Tesla has more in cash reserves than analysts expected, which means it won’t have to borrow money as it continues to ramp up production. And Musk still says the company will be profitable by the end of the year.
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Musk also used the call to hype insists Tesla’s new self-driving chip, a customized GPU that he says will rival industry lead NVIDIA’s. NVIDIA has, predictably, pushed back on the claim.
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Could Waymo, the Alphabet self-driving car company, actually make it easier for people to use mass transit? This week, the company rolled out an experiment with Valley Metro, a transit agency in Phoenix, where Waymo tests its driverless cars. One transportation expert told me it’s nice that the self-driving leader is thinking about public transit during this early stage of development—but no one knows what will work yet.
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Sacramento, the capital of California, wants to prove that it’s tech-savvy but safety-minded. Thus, it announced a $100,000 partnership with Phantom Auto, a company specializing in remote safety operations for totally driverless cars.
Lost Elevator Bank of the Week
Ford lost an elevator lobby; it wants it back. Earlier this year, the automaker made headlines for its purchase of Detroit’s Michigan Central Station, its once-majestic, century-old train station. Now, the station will be the centerpiece for Ford’s trendy, downtown, mobility-focused campus—but not before a serious clean-up and refurbishment effort. Problem is, scavengers and treasure-hunters alike stripped some of Michigan Central’s best features out years ago. Like its waiting room light fixture, and its ticket window, and its elevator lobby. If you have them, and you’re feeling generous (like the mystery person who returned the station’s old clock did), please contact Ford Motor Company.
Required Reading
News from elsewhere on the internet
- The Trump administration officially announces its plan to freeze fuel efficiency and pollution standards for cars, and to challenge California legal right to set its own pollution benchmarks. The administration says the decision will prevent road deaths. Experts aren’t so sure.
- Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico and South Korea mull how to respond to President Trump’s proposed auto tariffs.
- Bloomberg gets the strange backstory behind a contentious lawsuit between Tesla and a whistleblowing (or just disgruntled?) employee. There are phantom shooters, police reports, and yes, a few Elon tweets.
- Uber says sayonara to its self-driving truck arm.
- New York threatens to cap the number of ride-hail vehicles in the city. Uber, plus local civil rights groups, say the move would limit transportation options for communities of color.
- Meet the Arizona families already using self-driving cars.
- Scooter company Bird goes international in Paris and Tel Aviv.
- What does Elon Musk’s love life sayabout our political climate?
In the Rearview
Essential stories from WIRED’s past
Way back in 2017, Jack looked at what was then a new trend: companies partnering to build driverless cars. Ah, we were so young then.