About this episode

The episode discusses Uber's robotaxi strategy in Europe, FedEx Freight's advancements in autonomous trucking, and the AUKUS alliance's focus on undersea autonomy.

This week on Autonomy Signals , Grayson Brulte and Rob Grant discuss Uber's OEM-agnostic robotaxi strategy in Europe, FedEx Freight CEO's declaration that autonomous trucks are ready for prime time, and the AUKUS alliance accelerating undersea autonomy. At GTC Taipei, Uber, Autobrains, and NVIDIA announced a strategic collaboration to launch a robotaxi program in Munich, pending regulatory approval, built on Autobrains' agentic AI and the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion Level 4 platform. With no German OEM attached and Stellantis the likely production partner, the move extends Uber's asset-light playbook of contributing its demand network while pushing vehicle CapEx off its balance sheet and onto its partners. On June 1st, FedEx Freight began trading as an independent standalone company, and CEO John Smith stated that its autonomous tractor-trailers can run yard to interstate to facility with 99.9% autonomy. By framing the primary barrier to commercialization as regulatory rather than technical, Mr. Smith flipped the industry narrative from can we build it to will we be allowed to use it. Then there is AUKUS , where Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom formally initiated a…

People in this episode

Host: Grayson Brulte

Guest: Rob Grant

Topics covered

• robotaxi strategy
• autonomous trucks
• undersea autonomy
• AUKUS alliance
• regulatory challenges
• AI collaboration

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Uber, FedEx Freight, Autobrains, NVIDIA, Stellantis, AUKUS

Places: Germany, Munich

More episodes of The Road to Autonomy

• Episode 416 | Autonomy Markets: Robotaxis Get the Hype, Autonomous Trucks May Get the Profits · June 13, 2026 · 30 min
• Episode 415 | Autonomy Signals: Tesla Bets Big on Las Vegas as Waymo Buys Apple’s Proving Grounds · June 11, 2026 · 57 min
• Episode 414 | Hertz Isn't Just a Rental Car Company Anymore · June 9, 2026 · 38 min
• Episode 413 | Autonomy Markets: WeRide Is Catching Up to Waymo Globally · June 6, 2026 · 31 min
• Episode 411 | From Tracking Terrorists to Tracking Trucks: How a Former CIA Officer Built the Ground Truth Layer · June 2, 2026 · 46 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Road to Autonomy podcast page.