TechCrunch Mobility: ‘Physical AI’ enters the hype machine

Welcome backmost to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for each things “future of transportation.” To get this successful your inbox, motion up present for escaped — conscionable click TechCrunch Mobility!

It’s been a minute, folks! As you mightiness recall, the newsletter took a small vacation break. We’re backmost and good into 2026. And a batch has happened since the past edition. 

I spent the archetypal week of the twelvemonth astatine the Consumer Electronics Show successful Las Vegas. And portion I wrote astir this last January, it’s worthy repeating: U.S. automakers person near the building. 

What has filled the void successful the Las Vegas Convention Center? Autonomous conveyance tech companies (Zoox, Tensor Auto, Tier IV, and Waymo, which rebranded its Zeekr RT, to sanction a few), Chinese automakers similar Geely and GWM, bundle and automotive spot companies, and loads of what Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang calls “physical AI.” 

The term, which is sometimes called “embodied AI,” describes the usage of AI extracurricular the integer satellite and into the real, physics-based one. AI models, combined with sensors, cameras, and the motorized controls, let that carnal happening — humanoid robot, drone, autonomous forklift, robotaxi — to observe and recognize what’s successful this existent situation and marque decisions to run wrong it. And it was each implicit the spot from agriculture and robotics to autonomous vehicles and drones, concern manufacturing, and wearables. 

Hyundai had 1 of the busiest and largest exhibits with a near-constant enactment wrapped astir the entrance. The Korean automaker wasn’t showing cars. Nope, it was robots of assorted forms, including the Atlas humanoid robot, courtesy of its subsidiary Boston Dynamics. There were besides innovations that person travel retired of Hyundai Motor Group Robotics LAB, including a robot that charges electrical autonomous vehicles, and a four-wheel electrical level called the Mobile Eccentric Droid (MobEd) that is going into accumulation this year. It seems everyone was embracing and showcasing robotics, peculiarly humanoids. 

The hype astir humanoids, specifically, and carnal AI, successful general, was palpable. I asked Mobileye co-founder and president Amnon Shashua astir this due to the fact that his institution conscionable bought his humanoid robotics startup for $900 million: “What bash you accidental erstwhile radical archer you humanoid robots are each hype?” 

“The net was besides a hype, retrieve successful 2000, the situation of the internet,” Shashua said. “It did not mean that [the] net is not a existent thing. Hype means that companies are overvalued for a definite play of time, and past they crash. It does not mean that the domain is not real. I judge that the domain of humanoids is real.”

A fewer notable stories from CES:
Nvidia launches Alpamayo, unfastened AI models that let autonomous vehicles to ‘think similar a human’

This is Uber’s caller robotaxi from Lucid and Nuro

Mobileye acquires humanoid robot startup Mentee Robotics for $900M

Now onto the different non-CES and much caller quality … 

A small bird

Image Credits:Bryce Durbin

President Trump made comments this week astatine a Detroit Economic Club gathering astir welcoming Chinese automakers into the United States that did not beryllium good with galore successful the car industry, according to insiders I person spoken to. Specifically, I person been told the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (the manufacture lobbying group) is “freaking out,” 1 DC insider told me. 

“If they privation to travel successful and physique a works and prosecute you and prosecute your friends and your neighbors, that’s great, I emotion that,” Trump said, according to reporters successful attendance. “Let China travel in, fto Japan travel in.”

A mates of notes. Japanese companies similar Toyota are already precise overmuch successful the United States. The bigger hurdle, beyond protests from wrong the boardrooms of U.S. automakers, is existing law. In 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security issued a regularisation that restricts the import and sale of definite connected vehicles and related hardware and bundle linked to China oregon Russia. This fundamentally bans the merchantability of Chinese vehicles successful the country. 

Avery Ash, who is CEO of SAFE, a nonpartisan enactment focused connected securing U.S. energy, captious materials, and proviso chains, weighed successful astir the dangers of allowing Chinese automakers to merchantability their vehicles successful the United States. Side note: Ash was connected my podcast, the Autonocast, which touches connected immoderate of this subject.

“Welcoming Chinese automakers to physique cars present successful the U.S. volition reverse these hard-won accomplishments and enactment Americans astatine risk,” he said. ”We’ve seen this strategy backfire successful Europe and elsewhere — it would person perchance catastrophic impacts connected our automotive industry, person ripple effects connected our full defence concern base, and marque each American little secure.”

Meanwhile, Canada is opening the doorway to Chinese automakers. Canadian premier curate Mark Carney announced his state volition slash its 100% import taxation connected Chinese EVs to conscionable 6.1%, Sean O’Kane reports.

”Got a extremity for america to stock successful the Little Bird section? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal astatine kkorosec.07, oregon email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com. 

Deals!

Image Credits:Bryce Durbin

Budget bearer Allegiant agreed to bargain rival Sun Country Airlines for astir $1.5 cardinal successful currency and stock.

Dealerware, which sells bundle services to automotive OEMs and retailers, was acquired by a radical of investors led by Wavecrest Growth Partners and Radian Capital. Automotive Ventures and automotive manufacture executives David Metter and Devin Daly besides participated. The presumption were not disclosed.

Long-distance autobus and bid supplier Flix acquired the bulk share of European airdrome transfer-platform Flibco. Luxembourg institution SLG volition clasp immoderate ownership involvement successful Flibco. Terms weren’t disclosed. 

JetZero, the Long Beach, California, startup processing a midsized triangular craft designed to prevention connected fuel, raised $175 cardinal successful a Series B circular led by B Capital, Bloomberg reported.

Joby Aviation, a institution processing electrical aerial taxis, reached an agreement to bargain a 700,000-square-foot manufacturing installation successful Dayton, Ohio, to enactment its plans to treble accumulation to 4 craft per period successful 2027.

Luminar has reached a woody to merchantability its lidar concern to a institution called Quantum Computing Inc. for conscionable $22 million. If that seems low, you’re right. Luminar’s valuation peaked successful 2021 astatine $11 billion.

Notable reads and different tidbits

Image Credits:Bryce Durbin

Bluspark Global, a New York-based shipping and proviso concatenation bundle company, didn’t recognize its level was susceptible and unfastened to anyone connected the internet. Here’s however a information researcher (and TechCrunch) got it fixed.

The Federal Trade Commission finalized an bid that bans General Motors and its OnStar telematics work from sharing definite user information with user reporting agencies. Read the afloat communicative connected what that means.

InDrive, the institution that started arsenic a ride-hailing level that lets users acceptable the price, is diversifying and starting to execute connected its “super app” strategy. That means much in-app advertizing crossed its apical 20 markets and expanding market transportation to Pakistan. Read the afloat communicative here. 

Motional, the bulk Hyundai-owned autonomous conveyance company, has rebooted. When Motional paused its operations past year, I wasn’t definite it was going to survive. Other AV companies with large backers person seen their backing vanish successful a blink, truthful it was surely plausible. But the institution is present and with a caller AI-first approach. Before you rotation your eyes astatine that term, take a work of my article, which includes a demo thrust and an interrogation with CEO Laura Major. Then consciousness escaped to deed my inbox with your thoughts. 

New York politician Kathy Hochul plans to present authorities that would efficaciously legalize robotaxis successful the authorities with the objection of New York City. No details connected this yet; I’ve been told it volition each beryllium revealed successful her enforcement fund connection adjacent week. What we bash cognize is the connection is designed to grow the state’s existing AV aviator programme to let for “the constricted deployment of commercialized for-hire autonomous rider vehicles extracurricular New York City.” My nonfiction delves deeper into what she shared and gives an update connected Waymo’s NYC permit. 

Tesla is ditching the one-time interest option for its Full Self-driving (Supervised) bundle and volition present merchantability entree to the diagnostic done a monthly subscription.

On-demand drone transportation institution Wing is bringing its work to different 150 Walmart stores arsenic portion of an expanded concern with the retailer.