The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has decided to establish a dedicated unit next spring to investigate and deter accidents involving autonomous vehicles, according to an interview with the department on the 9th. The unit, tentatively named the Autonomous Driving Planning Office, will be placed within the Traffic Affairs Division of the Traffic Bureau and will handle responses to permit applications for Level 4 automation, in which the system performs all operations under specific conditions, as well as investigate accidents. Because determining the cause of autonomous driving accidents requires advanced knowledge and skills, the unit will accumulate investigative methods and provide support to other prefectural police forces. It also plans to conduct awareness campaigns to prevent accidents and inform manufacturers, and is considering upgrading it to a division in the spring of 2028. The establishment of such a dedicated unit is the first among police forces nationwide.
Alphabet's Waymo Lines Up $5 Billion Loan as Isomorphic Labs Targets $40 Billion to $50 Billion Valuation
Alphabet subsidiaries Waymo and Isomorphic Labs are pursuing major new funding moves in autonomous driving and AI drug discovery. Waymo has lined up US$5b in debt financing to support an international expansion of its robotaxi operations outside the US, while Isomorphic Labs is reported to be targeting a US$40b to US$50b valuation in its next capital raise focused on AI driven drug design. Waymo's US$5b term loan pushes more of Alphabet's AI buildout onto subsidiary-level borrowing rather than Alphabet's own cash, adding fixed obligations to a capital intensive project where timelines and regulatory paths are less clear than core Search or Cloud. Isomorphic Labs pursuing a US$40b to US$50b valuation highlights how far Alphabet is willing to stretch its AI ambitions beyond advertising and enterprise software, leaning into the reward side of future AI monetisation while magnifying the risk analysts flag around capital intensity and non cash earnings.
Robotics & Physical AI › Autonomous Vehicles & Robotaxi ▲Capital
Robotics & Physical AI › Robotaxi Operators & Platforms ▲Capital
Artificial Intelligence › Foundation Models & Research Labs Capital
Isomorphic Labs · Capital · Positive Isomorphic Labs is reported to be targeting a $40B to $50B valuation in its next capital raise for AI-driven drug design.
GOOG · Capital · Neutral Waymo lines up $5B debt financing and Isomorphic Labs targets a $40-50B valuation, pushing Alphabet's AI buildout onto subsidiary-level borrowing and magnifying capital-intensity risk.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives reiterates Outperform and $500 Tesla target on physical AI bet
Yorkville Ives analyst Dan Ives reiterated his Outperform rating and $500 price target on Tesla, arguing autonomy, robotaxis and Optimus humanoid robots will increasingly drive the company's value. "We view Tesla as one of the clearest ways to own physical AI in the public markets," Ives wrote, adding that investors valuing Tesla primarily as an automaker are pricing a fleet rather than the platform being built on top of it. He calls Full Self-Driving the bridge between today's car business and tomorrow's autonomy business, with an attach rate above 55% on new North American EV sales, while Tesla's robotaxi service now operates in six US cities with paid miles approaching 2.5 million and a 5,000-vehicle Nevada permit gives it a path to a much larger fleet. Using a sum-of-the-parts valuation based on 2028 revenue estimates, Ives values Tesla's existing businesses at about $165 per share as a car company and assigns the remaining $335 to autonomy and Optimus, meaning roughly two-thirds of his price target rests on businesses still in their early stages. He flags risks including that only 45 Cybercabs are authorized for driverless operation in Texas, that Tesla expects about 2,500 vehicles in Nevada in year one, half of what the permit allows, and that NHTSA issued a Special Order on Cybercab's self-certification with Tesla's sworn response due September 30th.
Tesla Renames Full Self-Driving to Tesla Assisted Driving in Europe
Tesla has renamed its advanced driver assistance system in Europe to "Tesla Assisted Driving," dropping the "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)" branding after pushback from Germany's transportation ministry. Germany's transport minister, Steffen Bilger, said earlier this month that calling the software "Full Self-Driving" was somewhat misleading because it does not perform the entire task of driving, and after speaking with Tesla last month the company itself suggested the name change, according to an official release from the ministry. Bilger said he will now advocate for approval of Tesla Assisted Driving across Europe ahead of an EU-wide vote that could happen later this year, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk thanked him on X this week. The change marks a significant capitulation for Tesla, which had used the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) name for years even though the system requires humans to pay attention to the road and take over when necessary, and it could help the company achieve wider adoption on the continent and unlock a potentially massive new revenue stream. The rebrand follows a Reuters report on Wednesday that Tesla's campaign for European approval was built on faulty company safety research and flawed studies, and that the Dutch vehicle safety regulator, RDW, faced fierce pressure from Tesla and its online supporters; the Netherlands became the first European country to approve FSD (Supervised) in March. FSD has also been at the center of federal investigations and civil lawsuits over crashes in which it was allegedly in use, and Tesla discontinued its less capable predecessor, Autopilot, earlier this year after a judge ruled the company had engaged in deceptive marketing about the system's capabilities.
TSLA · Regulation · Positive Renaming FSD to Tesla Assisted Driving after German ministry pushback could ease European regulatory approval and unlock wider adoption.
Stellantis, Wayve Partner to Cut Autonomous Driving Costs
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said Friday that the automaker's partnership with British startup Wayve could reduce development times and costs for advanced driver-assistance systems. Speaking alongside Wayve CEO Alex Kendall at the Wave technology event in Turin, Filosa said scale would be crucial to making hands-free driving affordable and speeding up adoption, pointing to level 2++ driving assistance technology that allows hands-off driving while still requiring driver supervision. He said cutting development timelines, currently around 24 months for Stellantis, was a key benefit of working with technology partners. Stellantis announced the partnership with Wayve in May to integrate the startup's AI-powered driving software into its STLA AutoDrive platform, with the first product launch targeted for 2028 in North America. Kendall said Stellantis' portfolio of brands, including Jeep, Fiat, Peugeot and Maserati, offered an opportunity to tailor autonomous driving characteristics across different vehicles while using the same underlying AI system, and at the Turin event the two companies demonstrated hands-free driving in Fiat 500e and Maserati Grecale development vehicles.
Robotics & Physical AI › Autonomous Vehicles & Robotaxi Technology
STLA · Technology · Positive Stellantis partners with Wayve to integrate AI driving software into its STLA AutoDrive platform, cutting ADAS development time and cost
Wayve Technologies Limited · Demand · Positive Wayve's AI driving software is being adopted by Stellantis across its brands, with first product launch targeted for 2028
Slovakia Set to Approve Tesla FSD, Becoming Ninth EU Country
Slovakia is expected to approve Tesla's Full Self-Driving system, potentially making it the ninth European Union country to authorize the driver-assistance technology, according to Reuters. Transport Minister Jozef Raz said Slovakia would formally communicate its decision to the Netherlands, where the vehicle regulator RDW cleared Tesla's system earlier this year and acts as the primary regulatory authority for FSD in Europe. Raz said the decision was supported by data indicating lower accident rates, while emphasizing that drivers would remain responsible for their vehicles, and once the letter is delivered FSD would become available for use in Slovakia. The expected approval follows authorizations in countries including Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Denmark and Estonia, and an EU-wide vote could take place as soon as December, potentially opening the door to broader deployment across the region. Wider FSD adoption could support software monetization through paid subscriptions and expand Tesla's addressable customer base, though competition is intensifying from General Motors' Super Cruise and Rivian's Autonomy+.
Tesla Q3 Deliveries Beat Consensus at 486,532 Vehicles
Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter, comfortably above company-compiled consensus of 461,974 and down only 2% from a year earlier, strengthening the case that the company could return to annual delivery growth after two years of declines. The automotive recovery still matters because cars remain Tesla's largest revenue source, with European registrations up 43% during the first eight months of 2026, helping offset weaker U.S. demand following the loss of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. Tesla's Q2 numbers showed why volume alone is insufficient: revenue reached $28.24 billion, but gross margin fell to 16.8% from 17.2%, while free cash flow turned negative by $1.1 billion and capital expenditures jumped 142% to $5.79 billion as Tesla funded AI infrastructure, robotaxis, and next-generation manufacturing. Tesla recently secured $30 billion of new credit facilities and expects 2026 capital spending above $25 billion, although the facilities were undrawn and the company did not plan to use them in 2026. Goldman Sachs kept a Neutral rating and $360 target on October 6, arguing that Tesla's physical-AI businesses, including robotaxis, FSD, and humanoids, will matter more for the stock than Q3 EPS, while consensus P/E falls from 217.93 times estimated 2026 earnings to 176.66 times in 2027 and 117.20 times in 2028 before dropping to 58.28 times in 2029.
Robotics & Physical AI › Autonomous Vehicles & Robotaxi Demand
TSLA · Demand · Positive Tesla Q3 deliveries of 486,532 beat consensus of 461,974, with European registrations up 43%, signaling stronger end-customer demand.
TSLA · Capital · Negative Q2 gross margin fell to 16.8% from 17.2%, free cash flow turned negative by $1.1 billion, and capex jumped 142% to $5.79 billion.
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