TechCrunch Mobility: How Jony Ive’s LoveFrom helped Rivian and what Uber’s next-generation playbook looks like

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I’ve spent a decade protecting Tesla and CEO Elon Musk, so it could be pure for me to weigh in right here concerning the billionaire’s public fallout with President Donald Trump. Loads of different reporters, armchair analysts, influencers, and bloggers have already executed that. A few of it’s good, whereas a few of it misses the mark — by miles.

Since I take pleasure in institutional information, and a helluva good reminiscence, let me supply some temporary reminders and predictions. We’ve been right here earlier than — Musk has a protracted, well-documented historical past of making seemingly sturdy alliances after which burning all of it down. 

As senior reporter Tim De Chant famous, Elon is getting an introduction to politics. The issue right here is that Musk additionally embraces threat and gravitas — which implies that studying one thing doesn’t equate to his conduct altering. 

Count on a roller-coaster trip of tentative peace adopted by public outbursts. Rinse. Repeat.

The implications of this fallout promise to be broad and can seemingly contact all of Musk’s numerous enterprises. I might be monitoring how Tesla EV gross sales numbers fare and the way the “Large, Lovely Invoice” will truly have an effect on the automaker’s enterprise whether it is handed into regulation. 

Within the brief time period, I might be centered on Tesla’s nice robotaxi experiment in Austin, Texas, and the way Musk’s difficult and more and more poisonous relationship with the Trump administration impacts his dealings with the Division of Transportation. Previous to his public breakup with Trump, Musk was lobbying lawmakers on laws associated to autonomous autos — particularly over a invoice launched on Might 15 known as the Autonomous Vehicle Acceleration Act.

Just a little fowl

Ever since Rivian spun out Additionally, a micromobility startup that additionally acquired backing from Eclipse Ventures, we’ve been poking round to search out out extra. A number of little birds have been in contact and helped us higher perceive how the skunkworks program changed into a stand-alone firm; in addition they revealed a shocking element: Jony Ive’s artistic agency LoveFrom labored alongside Rivian’s design staff and the employees beneath the skunkworks program. Senior reporter Sean O’Kane and I have the full scoop here. 

Obtained a tip for us? E mail Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Sign at kkorosec.07, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or try these instructions to discover ways to contact us by way of encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.

Offers!

Memorandums of understanding not often seize my consideration. However this one did.

Joby Aviation and Saudi Arabian conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel signed a memorandum of understanding to discover a distribution settlement for up to 200 electric aircraft. The tentative deal is notable as a result of Abdul Latif Jameel is already an investor of Joby. 

If finalized, the partnership might present Joby with a quick path to monetizing its electrical vertical takeoff and touchdown autos in Saudi Arabia. Turning an investor right into a buyer can complicate the connection, too (simply ask Amazon and Rivian.) 

Different offers price noting …

Obvio, a California-based startup that’s combining AI with cameras positioned at cease indicators to root out unsafe driving conduct, raised $22 million in a Sequence A funding spherical led by Bain Capital Ventures. Obvio plans to make use of these funds to increase past the primary 5 cities the place it’s at the moment working in Maryland. 

Portless, an e-commerce achievement and logistics startup, raised $18 million in a funding spherical led by Commerce Ventures, with participation from eGateway Capital, Floor Up Ventures, and FJ Labs. Portless makes use of a Shein-like enterprise mannequin and costs manufacturers duties after an merchandise sells, serving to defer the price of tariffs.

Toma, an AI voice startup that’s making use of its instruments to automotive dealerships, raised $17 million throughout a seed and Sequence A spherical led by a16z. Y Combinator (Toma was in YC’s January 2024 cohort), the Scale Angels Fund, and auto business influencer Yossi Levi, also called the Automobile Dealership Man, have backed the startup. 

What Uber’s govt shuffling is telling us

Latest govt shuffling coupled with feedback by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi don’t simply trace on the firm’s technique. Nope, this is sort of a neon blinking signal and the phrase “autonomy” is on the middle. 

Earlier this week, Uber introduced it had appointed Andrew “Mac” Macdonald as president and chief working officer. The corporate additionally introduced the departure of Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, who ran Uber’s supply enterprise.

Gore-Coty’s tasks will slot beneath Macdonald, who has been with the corporate since 2012 and most just lately led the mobility and enterprise operations. One other tidbit price mentioning: He launched Uber’s Toronto operations 13 years in the past and spearheaded its autonomous technique.

Mac’s new function will mix mobility, supply, and autonomy. 

At a Bloomberg convention, Khosrowshahi was requested about AVs. He talked about constructing the AV ecosystem and Uber’s stakes in corporations (Aurora and Waabi) growing autonomous car expertise.

“We wish to primarily assist the AV ecosystem and proceed to assist that ecosystem develop after which AVs penetrate into {the marketplace},” he mentioned. “AVs, we expect, characterize a safer method of transportation. In the end, we expect it’ll increase {the marketplace} because it makes form of protected transportation cities out there to all people.”

In different Uber information, the corporate has added a new type of account with a simpler UI for older people. 

Notable reads and different tidbits

Autonomous autos

Tesla filed trademark applications for the time period “Tesla Robotaxi” after the corporate’s earlier makes an attempt to safe logos for its deliberate self-driving car service hit roadblocks.

Electrical autos, batteries, & charging

I missed this story from Axios reporter Katie Fehrenbacher and wished to say it right here. Final yr, Redwood Supplies quietly walked away from the Division of Power (DOE) mortgage it had acquired conditional approval for. Thus far, Redwood has by no means acquired any federal funding.

I reached out to Redwood to know why. Redwood initially utilized for a DOE mortgage in 2021. The method dragged on and at appreciable price to Redwood. Firms that undergo this course of are chargeable for paying the third-party consultants and specialists employed to vet the enterprise and expertise. By 2024, Redwood was nonetheless on the conditional approval limbo. Whereas it was ready, the corporate raised greater than $2 billion in personal funding and generated almost $200 million in income final yr. 

In the end, Redwood decided that the prices and constraints of this mortgage outweighed its worth.

Way forward for flight

Walmart and Alphabet’s Wing are bringing drone supply to 1000’s extra clients. Wing, which already operates out of 18 Walmart Supercenters within the Dallas-Forth Price space, is organising store in five more U.S. cities by the partnership. In all, greater than 100 shops might be added in Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa.

Individuals

Trevor Milton, the just lately pardoned founding father of Nikola, has been fighting a subpoena from the collectors of his bankrupt electrical trucking firm. Milton owed Nikola almost $100 million earlier than it filed for chapter in February, which adopted an arbitration case with the corporate in 2023 associated to his prison conviction that he misplaced.