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CNBC
5 hours ago
- CNBC
Robotaxis are becoming a reality. Who's poised to win in China and beyond
After years of testing, robotaxis are starting to become a normal part of transportation in certain parts of the U.S. and China, where a handful of companies are competing to become market leaders. In the U.S., Alphabet's Waymo has pulled ahead of its rivals and says it has more than 1,500 robotaxis on the road conducting more than 250,000 paid weekly trips in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, Texas. Tesla has just gotten started in Austin . In China, there are proibably about 2,000 robotaxis, primarily operated by a few local companies across the country's larger cities, according to Barclays estimates published last week. The British bank forecasts at least 300,000 robotaxis will be deployed in China by 2030, accounting for at least 5% of on-demand transportation in larger cities. China's capital Beijing has allowed robotaxi operators to charge fares for rides in a suburb since late 2021 . Shanghai in late July became the latest region to allow fully autonomous taxis to charge fares in parts of the city . Pony AI unique U.S.-listed Chinese startup Pony AI is so far the only robotaxi operator in the country that can charge the public for fares in parts of all four of China's largest cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The company hasn't disclosed how many cars it has running, but claims each car receives an average of 15 orders a day. "We believe this milestone [in Shanghai] demonstrates Pony's technological and operational readiness in [the] robotaxi business," Bank Of America analysts said in a report last week. "Pony will scale up its Robotaxi fleet size and see improving profitability, given better economies of scale and unit profitability," the analysts said. Bank of America rates the stock a buy, and gives the American depositary receipts a price target of $21, or more than 60% upside from Friday's close. Improving safety Pony AI Chief Technology Officer Tiancheng Lou said in a late July interview that his focus now is on improving safety, speeding up the ability to hail a robotaxi and cutting costs. The company has started testing its latest-generation robotaxi vehicles in Beijing, claiming to have slashed the cost of the parts needed to build its autonomous driving kit by 70% . Pony AI is set to report its next quarterly results on Aug. 12. Pony's U.S.-listed rival WeRide last Thursday said that its robotaxi revenue in the second quarter rose to a a record $6.4 million . Morgan Stanley rates WeRide a buy, but expects shares to "remain event-driven and show more volatility" subject to robotaxi developments in China and overseas. The bank does not cover "We believe progress in global development of robotaxis will expedite the pace of China's development/rollout of L4 AD/robotaxis," the Morgan Stanley analysts said, adding they do not think legacy global automakers and legislators in major economies "will risk missing out on the transition to vehicle autonomy, particularly after losing ground to China on EVs." Waymo expansion While Waymo has only just begun expanding internationally, entering the Japanese market, Chinese robotaxi operators are already pushing into Europe and the Middle East. WeRide claims it's the only company with autonomous driving permits in Saudi Arabia, China, the UAE, Singapore, France and the U.S. Outside China, WeRide said it has already started pilot operations in Riyadh with Uber Technologies . In mid-July, Chinese internet tech company Baidu reached a deal to offer its Apollo Go self-driving vehicles on the Uber ride-hailing platform, aiming for the Middle East and Asia later this year. The U.S. and mainland China, where ride-hailing app Didi acquired Uber's business, are not part of the deal. Apollo Go's pricing on Uber will likely compare to that of human drivers on Uber, Bank of America analysts said in a separate report last month. "Therefore, we think value in [the] overseas market could be multiple times higher than China, hence its profitability overseas could have much larger room." Bank of America rated Baidu a buy, with a $100 price target. Baidu is set to report results on Aug. 20. Baidu breakeven Barclays estimates that Baidu is probably already breaking even on its robotaxis in the Chinese city of Wuhan, excluding research and investment costs. Most Chinese robotaxi operators are also close to breaking even, the analysts said. "Being able to design and build cheap robotaxi models is the single largest reason why we think Chinese players are likely to reach [unit economics] breakeven (excluding R & D and other headquarters costs) by the end of 2025," the Barclays analysts said. The bank estimates each Waymo car currently costs $200,000, Baidu's Apollo RT6 costs about $37,000, newest vehicle runs at about $42,000 and WeRide slightly more. —CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Business Insider
7 hours ago
- Business Insider
I've interviewed around 500 people. I can trace all my best and worst hires back to this single interview question.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Eli Rubel, a 37-year-old Denver-based serial entrepreneur and CEO of Profit Labs. His identification has been verified by Business Insider. This story has been edited for length and clarity. At any given time, I employ between 40 and 50 people on a full-time basis. I've probably interviewed around 500 people. I created my first company, an enterprise contract management software in 2010, and sold that business in 2014. Next, I bought a commerce business, spent four years turning it around, and sold it. Then, in 2019 I started a marketing agency called Matter Made, and in 2022, I started a second agency called No Boring Design. Today I still own both of those businesses but I have talented leaders run them. I just started a third agency called Profit Labs, which is a bookkeeping and accounting firm for agency owners. It took a lot of reps to figure out what felt like a genuine interview process for me. Now, I can trace every one of my best and worst hires back to this single interview question. My go-to interview question has evolved Originally I used to ask candidates, "have you heard of the zones of genius?" Most people hadn't heard of it at the time. I think it's more popular now and it's the concept that everybody has a zone of excellence, competence, and incompetence. So I would ask them "Can you walk me through your zones?" I discovered that the problem with the zone of genius question was that if you say zone of incompetence, people are on the defensive. They may think that they need to be careful about what they say because they're in an interview. It's still one of my favorite questions but it evolved into the question that I eventually got to, which is, "what gives you energy and what takes away energy in a working environment?" People tend to answer the question honestly That one question has made or saved me more money than any ATS or hiring tool I've ever used. When it's framed like that, it feels like you're an ally by asking the question. It's kind of like, "hey, I'm here to protect you from the things that don't that take away your energy." So I think people are just much more at ease and authentic when they answer the question. There is no right or wrong answer because ultimately I'm looking to figure out if this person is going to be well-aligned for the role. I don't want them to be a bad fit just as much as they don't want to be. For example, if they're interviewing for a facing account manager role and they answer the question by saying, "I love dealing with people and that gives me energy, and what takes it away is when a client pushes back on an idea that I share," that would be a huge flag for me. That tells me this person is not right for an account manager role because they're going to get their ideas shot down all the time. It's a red flag as it relates to this role, but it's not a bad thing in general. Maybe there's another role that is better for them, though. If I know what their skill set is, I can find a place for them where they're not pitching ideas to clients that are going to get shot down, but they can still leverage their skill of dealing with people. It's almost always the case that whatever they responded to the question is directly related to what I later see in manager feedback or in performance reviews.
San Francisco Chronicle
16 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Woman caught in Coldplay ‘Kiss Cam' embrace resigns from tech company
A senior human resources executive at a New York-based tech firm has stepped down after a moment of unintentional viral fame at a Coldplay concert exposed her in a compromising embrace with the company's CEO. Kristin Cabot, formerly chief people officer at Astronomer, resigned this week following the abrupt departure of CEO Andy Byron, who had quit after initially being placed on leave. The resignations come in the wake of a July 16 Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, where the pair were unexpectedly caught on the venue's kiss cam. 'Kristin Cabot is no longer with Astronomer, she has resigned,' company spokesperson Taylor Jones confirmed in a brief statement. The footage, now widely shared online, shows Byron and Cabot smiling and leaning into one another before reacting in panic upon seeing themselves on the Jumbotron. Cabot recoils, hands to her face, while Byron ducks out of the frame. 'Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy,' Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, narrating the moment, quipped. Astronomer soon confirmed their identities and launched an internal investigation. Their profiles were quietly removed from the company website, along with a news release announcing Cabot's hiring. While the episode marked a corporate scandal for Astronomer, it had an unexpected upside for Coldplay; the band's streaming numbers jumped by 25% in the days following the incident, according to Luminate. 'While I would never have wished for it to happen like this,' interim CEO Pete DeJoy reflected in a LinkedIn post, 'Astronomer is now a household name.'
