This week: Travis Kalanick’s planning his AV empire, your Tesla now knows your guilty pleasures, Slate’s EV might collapse into flat-pack furniture, and Lyft wants your face beat at freeway speeds. Welcome to mobility’s unhinged new normal.

Uber’s former CEO Travis Kalanick, the startup world's favorite villain, is plotting a comeback with Pony AI, the Chinese autonomous vehicle maker operating on California streets. Picture TikTok, minus dance challenges, plus driverless taxis and data scandals. Fun, right?

Why is Kalanick’s move lighting up the mobility scene? It taps right into the spicy national security drama that turned TikTok from Gen-Z’s favorite app to a Capitol Hill punching bag. With Pony AI's autonomous tech cruising through California streets, this deal puts U.S. tech sovereignty front and center. Read the article

Here’s why it matters: Autonomous vehicles aren't just the future. They're today's political battleground. Whoever controls AV data influences urban planning, safety regulations, and even national security. With Kalanick at the wheel, expect drama, disruption, and possibly Congress getting involved (because when has AV tech ever been simple?).

This week’s sponsor: Moovetrax

Slate Auto CEO Chris Barman claims they've cracked the code on building a $25K EV sedan. Sounds like Elon Musk’s nightmares or every investor's pipe dream. Maybe both?

Slate’s formula? Basically IKEA meets Tesla: modular designs, simplified manufacturing by reducing the number of parts from 2,500 to only 600, and fewer production meltdowns (hopefully). Cheap EVs mean cleaner air and cheaper fleets. But let’s be honest—at $25K, we're either witnessing automotive genius or gearing up for another glorious startup meltdown.

Read it here

If Slate nails this, urban mobility could transform overnight. Fleets go electric, air gets cleaner, and Elon Musk gets just a little nervous. If they fail—well, at least we’ll have another Netflix documentary about a failed tech startup to binge.

Musk claims Tesla’s new AI knows you better than your therapist. Great for personalized commutes…less great if you have secrets. Fleet operators, take note—this AI upgrade could dramatically streamline driver interactions, diagnostics, and even fleet safety. Or it could just lead to cars roasting drivers all day. Your move, Musk.

Lyft and Sephora team up for glam-on-the-go. Makeup in the backseat? Nothing says mobility innovation like eyeliner at 50 mph. Could rideshare partnerships (even quirky ones) point to new revenue streams beyond ride-hailing fees? Or is it just plain weird?

North American automakers are shifting investments from raw horsepower to connected vehicle tech—think cloud-based OS, self-driving integration, and cars chatting among themselves about traffic jams (or gossiping about your parking skills). Why it matters: Mobility pros, the definition of a "car" is changing fast, and staying competitive means treating vehicles less like metal machines and more like software platforms. Buckle up for a digital transformation.

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