TechCrunch Mobility: The race for AI technology is coming to cars

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There is another emerging theme in transportation – and indeed all industries: AI is creating jobs for some at the expense of others.

General MotorsFor example, it lost 10% of its IT departmentor about 600 salary workers – in a deliberate exchange of skills. This does not mean that they are mutually exclusive, which means that there will be lost work. But GM insists it’s hiring and the layoffs have offered to hire IT people with AI backgrounds.

The most sought-after areas are AI development, data engineering and analysis, cloud-based engineering, agent development and modeling, agile engineering, and new AI processes. In theory, GM is looking for people who know how to build with AI from the ground up — building systems, training models, and building pipelines — rather than using AI as a design tool.

AI job losses are growing in the automotive sector. Price CNBC few that Ford, GM, and Stellantis have collectively cut a total of more than 20,000 U.S. payroll jobs, or 19% of their combined workforce, from the highest number of recent jobs in the decade. While there are various reasons for this reduction, it is often linked to technological change, including AI.

Companies are leaning more towards AI, although the comments of some engineers and founders suggest that not all businesses know what they are doing with it.

Samsara is a company that seems to have found a way to make money. The company has spent the past decade providing its customers with cameras to mount in millions of vehicles to monitor drivers, prevent theft, and assist in general matters. The company took a mountain of data and trained its potential model identifying potholes and to know how quickly it deteriorates. The company is sending this to cities and has announced that it has several contracts, including Chicago.

A little bird

Nothing this week, although I’m working on a fun project! Find any time with information, tips, or reason. You can reach us via email or Signal.

Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.

Sales!

You may have noticed that Rivian’s spinoff company Mind Robotics they also earned $400 millionjust two months later raising $500 million. And his style made me think of its founder RJ Scaringe and his ability to get VC and corporate sponsors to implement his ideas and projects.

I calculated that investors poured $12.3 billion into Scaringe’s three startups – Plus, Mind Robotics, and Rivian. This number does not include about $ 12 billion in total assets obtained in Rivian’s IPO, and I have not taken into account the recent transactions with Volkswagen Group and Uber – which together could add about $ 7 billion to Rivian’s coffers.

You can read my entire riff on the topic here. But if you don’t want to click, here’s one thing that became clear. I spoke with several insiders and investors and they all mentioned Scaringe’s ability to give full attention to whoever he’s talking to – whether it’s an investor, supplier, or exec – and make them feel like the most important person in the room.

This is yet another piece of evidence in my old case against multitasking. I argue!

Some products that impressed me…

Arkeusan Australian startup that developed detection software for autonomous drones and aircraft, earned $18 million in a Series A round led by QIC Ventures. Other investors include R+VC, Folklore Ventures, DYNE Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, Salus Ventures, and Beaten Zone.

Aseon Labsthe city of Redwood City, California, which has developed a warehouse for charging, cleaning, and inspecting autonomous ships; he went out secretly with the support of Y Combinator.

Quickly earned $240 million In groups led by Prosus, and this gives the Indian company a ride on $ 3 billion. Existing investors, including WestBridge Capital and Accel, participated. The round was part of a larger $730 million budget for elementary and secondary schools.

Quantum Systemsa German drone startup backed by Peter Thiel, is negotiating to raise around €600 million ($703 million) with companies such as Airbus and Blackstone as investors, Bloomberg said.

Popular reading and more

Is Redwood Materials ready for an IPO? Senior reporter Sean O’Kane interviewed the company’s new CFO, Deepak Ahujawhose name will be known to everyone who follows Tesla. Ahuja was the former chief financial officer of Tesla and most recently held the same position at drone company Zipline.

Tesla Robotaxis will fall at least twice from July 2025 when a The teleoperator was driving from a distance vehicles, according to unredacted information submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Uber and growth in India and two new engineering campuses that can accommodate approximately 9,600 people and a data center partnership that aims to support both product development and operations.

That’s it provided software updates to its fleet of approximately 4,000 vehicles to support them avoid flooded roads as part of a recall announced by NHTSA. Bottom line: The company has not been able to solve the problem of how its cars behave in this way.

One thing…

Disruption, our top annual tech conference in San Francisco, will be held in October. And although this is difficult, I want to share one story. We will have six episodes this year, which you can count on more here. One worth noting in this crowd is ours AI in the Real World Stage.It will be here that we will dig into robotics, autonomous systems, manufacturing, security, and industrial applications.