Welcome to TechCrunch Mobility, your essential source for news and insights into the future of transportation. This week, we delve into Tesla's ambitious rebranding efforts, significant investments in autonomous vehicle technology, and other pivotal developments across the mobility sector.

Tesla's Evolving Identity Beyond EVs

For years, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sought to position his company as more than just an electric vehicle manufacturer. Following the 2016 acquisition of SolarCity, the narrative shifted to a sustainable energy company. More recently, Musk has aggressively promoted Tesla as a leader in AI and robotics.

However, this aspirational branding frequently collides with financial realities. The bulk of Tesla's revenue continues to stem from EV sales, a fact underscored by its latest earnings report. In 2025, the company generated $94.8 billion in revenue, with $69.5 billion derived from selling and leasing EVs, alongside related regulatory credits. The remaining $25 billion was almost evenly split between its energy generation and storage business (solar) and "services and other," which includes revenue from Superchargers, parts sales, and Full Self-Driving subscriptions.

This heavy reliance on vehicle deliveries means that as EV sales have dipped, so has Tesla's overall financial performance. The company reported a 46% year-over-year decline in profits for 2025.

In response to declining EV sales, Tesla has actively pursued growth in its non-EV ventures. The Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings report, along with the accompanying investor call, signaled a shift from persistent AI-robotics discussions to concrete action. For now, this action primarily involves spending. Musk repeatedly emphasized that 2026 would be a significant capital expenditure year, with plans to more than double spending to $20 billion, potentially leading to negative cash flow.

One notable move is the discontinuation of the Model S and Model X production, which Musk announced. While these models represent only about 2% of Tesla's sales volume, as Barclays analyst Dan Levy noted, it marks a symbolic end of an era for Tesla and the broader automotive industry, which the Model S profoundly influenced upon its 2012 debut.

More materially, Tesla plans to fill the production void left by the Model S and X with its Optimus humanoid robots, which will be manufactured at its Fremont, California, factory. Musk also intends to expand Tesla's robotaxi operations to more cities in 2026 and even suggested the need for Tesla to build a TerraFab factory to secure chip supply.

Perhaps the most striking development, hinting at an "Elon Inc" circular economy, is Tesla's plan to invest $2 billion into xAI, another Musk-led company, signaling closer alignment between the two. Concurrently, other outlets are reporting ongoing discussions about a potential merger involving three of Musk's ventures: SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI.

Despite these ambitious future plans, a look at Tesla's current business reveals that sales are down year-over-year, though its smaller energy storage business has made positive gains.

Waymo's Significant Fundraising Activity

Sources indicate considerable fundraising activity for Waymo. Reports from last month suggested Waymo was seeking to raise up to a $15 billion round, primarily led by its parent company, Alphabet. Our conversations confirm that the funding remains in the realm of $15 billion, with a substantial portion coming from Alphabet and strong interest from external investors, potentially including an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

Key Deals in the Mobility Sector

This week saw several significant deals shaping the future of mobility:

  • Waabi Secures $1 Billion for Robotaxis: Autonomous vehicle startup Waabi earned our "deal of the week" badge, raising $750 million in a Series C round co-led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners. Additionally, Uber committed $250 million in milestone capital to support the deployment of 25,000+ Waabi Driver-powered robotaxis exclusively on its platform. This deal signifies Waabi's expansion beyond self-driving trucks into robotaxis, aiming to scale its technology across multiple verticals with a single tech stack. This ambition contrasts with the strategies of Waymo, which shuttered its self-driving truck program, and Aurora, which now focuses solely on big rigs.
  • Gatik AI Lands $600 Million Driverless Truck Contract: Gatik AI, specializing in autonomous trucks for the "middle mile," signed a five-year, $600 million revenue deal with an unnamed major consumer-goods company. These driverless trucks have been operating 24/7 since mid-2025, transporting ambient, refrigerated, and frozen goods between distribution centers and stores, completing 60,000 fully driverless orders without incident.
  • Luminar's Lidar Business Acquired by MicroVision: Luminar's lidar business was sold for $33 million to Redmond, Washington-based MicroVision, which develops its own sensors. The sale process included a last-minute twist with a mystery bidder making a larger offer, though MicroVision ultimately prevailed.
  • Rad Power Bikes Sold After Bankruptcy: Rad Power Bikes, which initiated bankruptcy proceedings a month prior, reached a deal to sell to Life Electric Vehicles Holdings (Life EV) for approximately $13.2 million, with a total value of $14.9 million including liabilities. Founded with $329.2 million in funding, the e-bike company once boasted a $1.65 billion valuation.
  • Redwood Materials Raises $425 Million Series E: Battery recycling firm Redwood Materials closed a $425 million Series E round. New investors include Google and Nvidia’s venture capital arm, NVentures, alongside existing investors Capricorn and Goldman Sachs.

Notable Reads and Other Tidbits

  • Ride-Hailing Price Gap Narrows: Obi, a platform aggregating real-time pricing for ride-hailing services, released new data on the San Francisco Bay Area, indicating that the price gap between Waymo's robotaxis and rides offered by Uber and Lyft is narrowing.
  • Uber Launches AV Labs for Data Sharing: Uber introduced Uber AV Labs, a new division focused on collecting and sharing driving data with robotaxi partners like Lucid, Waymo, and Waabi. Senior reporter Sean O’Kane clarifies this is a data-sharing play, not a return to developing its own robotaxis.
  • Waymo at SFO Amid Investigations: Waymo has received approval to operate a robotaxi service to and from San Francisco International Airport (SFO), with phased access for riders. However, this win comes as Waymo faces investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) after one of its robotaxis struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica on January 23.
  • Zoox Collision Under Investigation: The San Francisco Police Department is investigating an incident where a Zoox autonomous vehicle collided with the driver's-side door of a parked car.

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