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This newsletter was set until Travis Kalanick took me back to 2016 with an eyebrow-raising announcement.
The Uber co-founder and former CEO, who resigned in 2017 after numerous controversies, is making a comeback by developing a robotics company named Atoms. He is on the verge of acquiring Pronto, an autonomous vehicle startup for industrial and mining sites, founded by former Uber colleague Anthony Levandowski. Kalanick has already declared himself the “largest investor” in Pronto.
That’s a lot to process, confirming we are indeed back in 2016. In case you forgot, 2016 was a buzz-filled year for AVs. Uber bought Levandowski’s startup Otto—a deal that quickly soured, leading Waymo to sue for trade secret theft.
Now, back to our scheduled content.
Just last week, I discussed Rivian and its effort to make the forthcoming R2 SUV one of the fastest vehicle launches ever. Didn’t catch it? Here it is.
This week, I’m reporting from Austin for SXSW—the yearly tech, music, film, TV, and comedy festival. Rivian, headlining at SXSW, revealed the pricing and specs of its R2. There’s still much to discover, and I’m still gathering interviews (including with CEO RJ Scaringe). Here’s what we know so far.
The launch edition, the first off the line, is priced at $57,990. My earlier article evaluates what comes with that price. Our senior reporter Sean O’Kane explored their long-promised $45,000 version, explaining why it won’t be available until late 2027.
Time at SXSW with Rivian has provided insights into their R2 strategy. Rivian focuses heavily on experiential marketing towards its key market. Attendees at SXSW, consisting of affluent tech and creative professionals from around the world, closely resemble Rivian’s customer profile.
But will it succeed? The EV is more approachable than the larger, pricier flagship R1 models. The R2 includes features, like a new operating system, that offer superior performance over the more expensive peer. The R2’s operating system, which I haven’t extensively tested, excels over the R1 in computing and user interface. The R2 has a single SoC (system on chip) for infotainment, performing 200 TOPS (tera operations per second) of edge computing. The latest R1 models have four SoCs and manage most computing in the cloud.
Rivian’s software VP, Wassym Bensaid, told me edge computing is crucial since it enables running large language models locally for reduced latency and improved performance.
Another notable change is the steering wheel’s “halo wheels,” shown above. These provide haptic feedback and let drivers swiftly adjust temperature, fan speed, and volume without looking away from the road. Chief designer Jeff Hammoud said this resolves primary customer requests without adding more buttons. Software upgrades can enhance these wheels’ capabilities over time.
Lucid Motors attempted to impress during its investor day by unveiling a robotaxi concept built on its “midsize” EV platform. Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff was direct, saying Lucid is “working on a dedicated Robotaxi” to follow the midsize EVs. However, they clarified that no actual development is underway, and the robotaxi remains just a concept. The project reportedly started in the last two or three months, leaving questions about how long it would take to launch such a vehicle.
Have a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at [email protected] or contact her on Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at [email protected].
Deals!
It seems this is Rivian’s edition! The company has spun off another startup and secured significant funding. Mind Robotics, an industrial robotics lab, raised $500 million in Series A funding co-led by Accel and Andreessen Horowitz.
As Sean O’Kane reported, the funding follows a $115 million seed round led by Eclipse in late 2025. Mind Robotics is now valued at about $2 billion.
Robotics was a key subject at Rivian’s SXSW presentations, including a panel with engineer and YouTuber Mark Rober and CEO RJ Scaringe. I spoke with Scaringe and asked about Mind Robotics and any plans to spin off more companies. After a long pause, he said, “Probably not.”
I’ll have a detailed story soon, but one highlight is Scaringe’s belief that industrial robotics’ future thinking is flawed.
“There’s been an unexpected focus on replicating human biomechanics, or even more complex mechatronics. What’s overlooked in industrial