- Jack Demmer Automotive wants to deliver parts with drones across Detroit. - An initial test flight was recently conducted over a short distance. - Trucks delivering parts currently face traffic issues that the drones won’t have. A car dealership group in Wayne, Michigan, has begun testing an autonomous drone delivery program to deliver parts across metro Detroit as part of an effort to reduce service times for its customers. It’s an intriguing idea, and perhaps in the near future, you may spot a drone hovering above you carrying a spare taillight or a new shift knob. Jack Demmer Automotive Group’s initiative is being supported by a $740,000 Michigan Advanced Air Mobility Activation Fund grant. It will allow the company to deliver high-demand parts within a 12-mile radius of Jack Demmer Ford dealerships. Read: You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide From These New Police Drones The first test flight was conducted on Tuesday, with a drone taking off from the dealership with a small box to a parking lot behind the company’s Quick Lane Tire and Auto Center. Employees at the sites currently need to run between the two locations when parts are needed urgently, or a truck may be used to ferry parts. Obviously, a truck has to deal with traffic, something a drone doesn’t have to worry about. The test flight was only conducted over a short distance, but Demmer is hopeful it’ll grow to include its other locations, including a Lincoln dealership in Dearborn and a 27-bay commercial vehicle center that it plans to open next year. As part of this week’s test, staff from drone supplier Blueflite were on hand, but in the future they will be able to manage drone deliveries remotely. Speaking with the Detroit Free Press, Blueflite business development lead Tyler Bruder
Aug 28, 2026 · via carscoops.com
Bot Auto recently announced it will staff the remote assistant function across its autonomous trucking operations exclusively with personnel based in the U.S., a commitment the Houston company framed around communication with first responders and law enforcement. The company was specific about what the role is not. Remote assistants do not perform any dynamic driving task, and the vehicle operates autonomously at all times. Their function is communication and coordination, including direct contact with first responders and law enforcement in the field, along with a limited set of vehicle functions used to assist an incident response. Assistants working from its mission control already confirm vehicle status, provide cargo and routing information, remotely actuate functions such as hazard lights, and can facilitate a vehicle shutdown at an officer’s direction. According to the company, keeping the function onshore delivers consistent language fluency, familiarity with U.S. traffic laws and emergency protocol, and reliable connectivity. The commitment lands against a Texas requirement that took effect this year. Since May 28, 2026, an operator running automated vehicles on Texas roads must hold authorization from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, and one condition of that authorization is that the Texas Department of Public Safety has been given a copy of a plan specifying how firefighting, law enforcement, ambulance, medical, and other emergency services should interact with the vehicle. Captain (ret.) Bart Teeter, director of fleet and operational safety at Bot Auto, described the job in those terms. “Our remote assistants aren’t driving the truck, but they are the voice on the other end of the line when an officer needs one,” he said. “Miscommunication or poor connections can potentially cost valuable time in addressing emergency conditions,” said Major Omar Villarreal of the Texas Department of Public Safety. “Autonomous vehicle operators committing to U.S.-based remote assistants
Aug 28, 2026 · via act-news.com
EACON Mining Technology Brings Bidirectional Autonomy to Cabless Mining Truck BEIJING, Aug. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- EACON Mining Technology's autonomous haulage system is now operating on the AT150, a 136-tonne-payload, cabless and bidirectional battery-electric mining truck. Developed with Inner Mongolia North Hauler Joint Stock Co., Ltd. (NHL) and State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), the truck was deployed at an SPIC mine in northern China. Bringing together SPIC's mining operations expertise, NHL's vehicle design and manufacturing capabilities, and EACON's autonomous driving technology, the AT150 demonstrates how autonomy can influence vehicle architecture and mine workflows when incorporated from the outset. Unlike conventional mining trucks, the AT150 has no fixed front or rear. It can approach a loading or dumping point in one direction and depart in the other, avoiding the U-turns and switchbacks generally required by front-facing vehicles, and streamlining traffic in constrained areas. EACON developed the autonomous perception, planning and control capabilities required for either end to become the leading end, with sensor selection and placement tailored to the truck's architecture and bidirectional operation. Using perception data from both directions, the system identifies road boundaries, obstacles and other vehicles before planning paths and stopping positions. Its path-planning technology can also determine how the truck should approach and leave each location, select alternative dumping positions when an assigned area becomes unavailable, and coordinate multiple vehicles around shared areas. Advertisement The AT150's electric drive and all-wheel steering support this operating model. Its semi-solid-state battery is designed for temperatures from –30°C to 50°C, while its 900V system supports charging at up to 3.4 MW. EACON's technology can also consider vehicle charge levels, production tasks, charger availability and fleet demand when allocating work. "The biggest shift is not removing the driver from the cab, but removing the assumption that mining equipment must be designed around
Aug 28, 2026 · via aol.com
Pony.ai, Uber expand pact to deploy 2,000 robotaxis in Europe Pony.ai and Uber have expanded their partnership to deploy over 2,000 robotaxis in Europe and the Middle East, building on their successful pilot in Zagreb. The deal integrates Pony.ai's L4 tech with Uber's platform, using local partners for fleet operations. Pony.ai shares dipped slightly before earnings, with analysts expecting revenue to jump to $35.18 million though losses widen to 17 cents per share. *this image is generated using AI for illustrative purposes only. Pony.ai Inc. (NASDAQ: PONY) and Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) announced an expansion of their strategic partnership to deploy more than 2,000 Pony.ai robotaxis across Europe. The move builds on the companies' existing commercial service in Zagreb, Croatia, and targets four additional European cities, with further plans for deployment in the Middle East. The expanded agreement formalizes a joint-deployment model designed to achieve commercial scale by integrating three core functions: Level 4 (L4) autonomous driving technology, a leading mobility platform, and day-to-day fleet operations. Under this framework, Pony.ai provides its L4 technology and operational expertise, while Uber offers customer access through its global mobility platform, including booking, payment, and customer service capabilities. Operational Structure Day-to-day fleet operations will be carried out by established local fleet partners selected for each market. Vehicle funding and ownership structures may vary by market, allowing individual partners to take on multiple roles. This model aims to combine Pony.ai's proven autonomous driving technology with Uber's extensive market reach and hybrid platform experience. | Partner | Role | Key Contributions | |---|---|---| | Pony.ai | Technology & Operations | L4 autonomous driving tech, rider-experience expertise, operational know-how | | Uber | Platform & Access | Global mobility platform, booking/payment systems, customer service, human driver network | | Local Partners | Fleet Management | Day-to-day
Aug 28, 2026 · via scanx.trade
An autonomous trucking company plans to deploy 500 Tesla semi trucks across multiple freight corridors starting in September.
Einride plans to utilize 500 Tesla semi trucks on its fleet intelligence platform and utilize them in places such as Texas, California, New Jersey, Illinois, and Georgia to serve customers as large as Amazon. The deployment is expected to start in September. The company will then stagger the rollouts of the Tesla semi trucks in multiple phases over the next two years, reported the Austin-American Statesman.
“EV heavy trucks provide lower costs per mile from fuel savings, reduced maintenance and better uptime over diesel trucks,” said Dan Priestley, director of Tesla Semi. “These savings increase further through operational efficiency when deploying EV trucks at scale and we are excited that Einride recognizes this and look forward to supporting their deployments.”
Tesla has been promising full scale production of the Tesla semi for many years, and has promised that wide-scale deliveries of the truck will start this year. The company has plans to host a Tesla semi truck inauguration at its Nevada factory where they will be produced on September 24th.
Aug 28, 2026 · via cdllife.com
Bot Auto is keeping its remote assistants based exclusively in the U.S., the Houston autonomous trucking company announced Thursday. These remote assistants sit between a driverless truck and whoever walks up to it but perform no part of the actual driving. The vehicle operates autonomously at all times. Their function is communication and coordination: direct contact with first responders and law enforcement in the field, plus limited vehicle actions during an incident. “Remote assistants play a critical role in Bot Auto’s operations, providing a human layer of support and oversight for our autonomous fleet. We’re building out America’s 21st-century supply chain. It needs to be extremely resilient, and that’s why it’s critical that these roles are always kept within the United States,” said Brian Moore, Bot Auto’s chief policy officer. Bot Auto runs a Level 4 fleet out of Houston and sells transportation as a service, positioning itself inside what it calls the Texas trucking triangle. What Remote Assistance Operators Do at the Roadside The work is already running in live operations. Remote assistants monitor operations from Bot Auto’s mission control today, confirming vehicle status and passing along cargo and routing information. They can remotely actuate functions such as hazard lights. They can also facilitate a vehicle shutdown at an officer’s direction. That last capability is the one that matters during a traffic stop. With no one in the cab, the shutdown request has to go somewhere. Bot Auto’s answer is a person in the United States, not one offshore. The Question the Senate Already Asked Where those people sit became a Washington issue in February. Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña told a Senate hearing that part of the company’s robotaxi support staff works overseas. Waymo operates four remote assistance centers, two of them in the Philippines and the
Aug 28, 2026 · via freightwaves.com
Autonomous trucks from Yandex, Navio, and KAMAZ have covered over 20 million kilometers on federal highways since 2023. According to the Ministry of Transport, these figures are tracked via a digital identification platform integrated with the ERA-GLONASS state system. Currently, 121 autonomous trucks are active on the roads. The vehicles operate on four major routes: the M-11 "Neva," M-4 "Don," the Central Ring Road (CKAD), and the M-12 "Vostok." The platform records the mileage of each connected vehicle and provides detailed route data. Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin stated that the mileage counter provides an objective measure of the readiness of autonomous transport for scaling. According to Nikitin, the vehicles are not only testing the technology but are performing actual freight transport to improve logistics efficiency. Current operational status: All 121 trucks on the highways currently operate under the supervision of a remote logistics operator who monitors movement and can intervene. The ERA-GLONASS infrastructure is being expanded to include new safety tools. Alexey Raykevich, Director General of JSC GLONASS, reported that a cyberattack protection system is currently under testing. Additionally, a mechanism for forced stopping during emergency situations is being developed. Both solutions are in the testing phase and will complement the existing accident-free mileage counter. Industry development is focused on removing the human operator from the process. In the spring, Navio tested a long-haul tractor at the NAMI proving ground that operated without a driver and without remote control. During these tests, the vehicle independently changed lanes, bypassed obstacles, and stopped at traffic lights. KAMAZ has also previously announced timelines for the launch of fully autonomous long-haul transport. Source: This article was adapted from an original Russian-language publication by Pravda.Ru. Subscribe to Pravda.Ru Telegram channel, Facebook, RSS!
Aug 28, 2026 · via english.pravda.ru
It looks like California has just taken a huge step towards putting autonomous freight trucks on the roads. This comes after the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles granted Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI permission to begin testing their technology on public streets and highways. California had previously prevented autonomous vehicles weighing over 10,000 lbs from undergoing public-road testing but all of that is about to change. The move was made back in April when the California DMV approved a new set of autonomous-vehicle regulations. Advert These rules have established a framework covering heavy-duty autonomous vehicles and opened the door to testing vehicles far larger than the robotaxis that have already become familiar on California roads. Aurora and Kodiak have now become the first companies to receive permits under that expanded system, with Kodiak already beginning a small amount of testing on public roads. Does this mean truck drivers might soon be out of their jobs? Well, the short answer is no, at least not yet, because the new rules come with a catch. These trucks aren’t actually allowed to roam around the streets of California completely driverless just yet, because there needs to be a human safety operator behind the wheel who can step in if necessary. There are also limits to where the trucks can drive, with testing being prohibited on roads with posted speed limits of 25mph or below unless the vehicle is travelling on a direct route between destinations. These won’t be the first autonomous trucks on US roads as Kodiak has accumulated considerable experience outside California, with its driverless vehicles having been used commercially for some time now. The new regulations are a first for California though, with it indicating that driverless cars and trucks could be the inevitable future. This comes as Elon Musk is
Aug 28, 2026 · via uniladtech.com
Gasgoo Munich- At Singapore's Changi Airport, a driverless fleet from China is already operating airside. UISEE's autonomous vehicles are now serving overseas aviation hubs, including Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore's Changi Airport. Similar shifts are unfolding at ports. In July, the UK's Port of Felixstowe confirmed its third order for Westwell's Q-Truck. Once delivered, the fleet of autonomous trucks there will reach 100 units. Meanwhile, at the Kalgoorlie goldfields in Western Australia, six Komatsu HD1500 haul trucks have gained "Chinese drivers." E-Ctrl didn't ship a fleet of Chinese autonomous mining trucks to Australia. Instead, it installed its own self-driving system into the site's existing Japanese-brand haulers. Airports, ports, mines. Three distinct production sites are witnessing the same shift: China's L4 solutions, honed on domestic soil, are entering real-world production systems overseas. But "going global" isn't the same as "scaling globally." The three cases vary in maturity and hardly represent the entire Chinese L4 sector. Yet they offer a crucial window into a key question: When Chinese firms move their capabilities—honed in complex domestic production environments—to entirely new regulatory, equipment, and operational frameworks, how much actually carries over? That may be the true test of whether the "China Solution" can genuinely go global. It is also the question that Gasgoo's "China Solution to the World" series aims to answer. As more Chinese technology and industrial solutions enter real-world overseas scenarios, identifying which capabilities hold genuine global competitive edge will be a key focus of the "Golden Gear Awards" hosted by Gasgoo on October 23. Airports: The Real Bottleneck to Replication May Not Be Algorithms Airports can easily create an illusion. Enclosed, low-speed, with fixed routes and none of the complex traffic or pedestrians found on open roads, they seem naturally simpler than robotaxis. But in mid-August 2026, during an interview
Aug 28, 2026 · via autonews.gasgoo.com
Breton Technology Co., Ltd. Class H ( (HK:1333) ) just unveiled an update. Breton Technology Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of battery-electric wide-body dump trucks, has deployed its autonomous driving products across major mining regions in China, including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Hebei. The company is also expanding PV-storage energy services and grid-forming photovoltaic energy storage power stations for overseas mining customers, with plans to replicate its âPV-storage + miningâ solution in more emerging markets. For the six months ended June 30, 2026, Breton reported revenue of RMB330.7 million, up 1.2% year on year, and gross profit of RMB54.5 million, up 160.1%, lifting gross margin to 16.5%. The companyâs net loss narrowed by 49.2% to RMB88.5 million, driven by improved product mix, higher contributions from high-margin PV-storage components and electricity sales, reduced impairment provisions, and higher government grant income, strengthening its financial position in the zero-carbon mining segment. More about Breton Technology Co., Ltd. Class H Breton Technology Co., Ltd. is an integrated solution provider focused on zero-carbon intelligent mining, offering a one-stop green intelligent operation system for mining clients worldwide. The company develops battery-electric engineering machinery with autonomous capabilities and provides intelligent operation technologies plus photovoltaic and energy storage services, creating a value chain spanning energy supply, equipment application and intelligent driving. Average Trading Volume: 1,374,141 Technical Sentiment Signal: Sell Current Market Cap: HK$4.92B See more insights into 1333 stock on TipRanksâ Stock Analysis page. Trending Articles: This story was written using TipRanks's AI tools and reviewed by a TipRanks editor.
Aug 28, 2026 · via tipranks.com
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Aug 28, 2026 · via statesman.com
EACON Mining Technology Brings Bidirectional Autonomy to Cabless Mining Truck BEIJING, Aug. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- EACON Mining Technology's autonomous haulage system is now operating on the AT150, a 136-tonne-payload, cabless and bidirectional battery-electric mining truck. Developed with Inner Mongolia North Hauler Joint Stock Co., Ltd. (NHL) and State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), the truck was deployed at an SPIC mine in northern China. Bringing together SPIC's mining operations expertise, NHL's vehicle design and manufacturing capabilities, and EACON's autonomous driving technology, the AT150 demonstrates how autonomy can influence vehicle architecture and mine workflows when incorporated from the outset. Unlike conventional mining trucks, the AT150 has no fixed front or rear. It can approach a loading or dumping point in one direction and depart in the other, avoiding the U-turns and switchbacks generally required by front-facing vehicles, and streamlining traffic in constrained areas. EACON developed the autonomous perception, planning and control capabilities required for either end to become the leading end, with sensor selection and placement tailored to the truck's architecture and bidirectional operation. Using perception data from both directions, the system identifies road boundaries, obstacles and other vehicles before planning paths and stopping positions. Its path-planning technology can also determine how the truck should approach and leave each location, select alternative dumping positions when an assigned area becomes unavailable, and coordinate multiple vehicles around shared areas. The AT150's electric drive and all-wheel steering support this operating model. Its semi-solid-state battery is designed for temperatures from –30°C to 50°C, while its 900V system supports charging at up to 3.4 MW. EACON's technology can also consider vehicle charge levels, production tasks, charger availability and fleet demand when allocating work. "The biggest shift is not removing the driver from the cab, but removing the assumption that mining equipment must be designed around a
Aug 28, 2026 · via prnewswire.com
Gatik secures $200M to scale driverless middle-mile operations Gatik's $200M Series D funding round will accelerate commercial middle-mile deployments for enterprise shippers like PepsiCo, Kroger, and Walmart after completing 85,000 driverless deliveries. Gatik is expanding its driverless trucking operations with backing from major customers and investors. The company aims to grow from dozens of autonomous trucks to several hundred by year’s end. Gatik’s rising contracted revenue points to growing demand for autonomous freight services. Gatik Driverless trucking venture Gatik has finalized a $200 million financing round that co-founder and CEO Gautam Narang says will let the nine-year-old company “scale with speed and discipline.” Narang and his team have built a customer roster that includes Walmart, Kroger, and Canada’s Loblaws chain, as well as PepsiCo, which expanded its work with Gatik this summer. Using Isuzu medium-duty trucks (the OEM invested $30 million in Gatik in 2024), the company focuses on high-frequency operations from distribution centers to stores. Coming into 2026, Gatik trucks had completed about 60,000 fully driverless deliveries. In announcing the $200 million in funding, Narang’s team said that number now stands at 85,000. “This round […] is a clear validation of Gatik’s commercial leadership in autonomous freight,” Narang said in a statement. “We have built Gatik with real revenue, deep customer demand, and AI-driven autonomous technology proven every day in live supply chains. This round gives us the capital to scale with speed and discipline, serve the world’s largest companies, and define the future of autonomous freight.” Leading the latest funding round for Gatik are the Qatar Investment Authority and Koch Disruptive Technologies, the venture-capital arm of Koch Industries, which first invested in the company five years ago. Several other firms, including Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, also took part. Narang's near-term goal is to scale from dozens of driverless
Aug 28, 2026 · via fleetowner.com
Key takeaways: - BYD’s new charging technology can deliver up to 1,500 kW through a single connector, although its current commercial rollout is centred on passenger vehicles. - Cellcentric’s new heavy-duty fuel-cell system delivers up to 375 kW of continuous net power and targets hydrogen consumption below 6 kg/100 km in a fully laden 40-tonne truck. - Iveco and PlusAI are preparing Level 4-capable trucks for trials on the Madrid-Zaragoza freight corridor, with a safety operator remaining on board. - ZF’s TraXon 2 Hybrid combines a combustion engine with a 190 kW continuous-output electric motor and can operate as a plug-in hybrid. - Scania’s ProDriver digital coaching service takes a different approach, using driver training and feedback to cut fuel consumption by up to 5% without changing the truck itself. Five projects have reached the final round of the annual award, but four are directly focused on truck hardware, propulsion or vehicle operation: BYD’s Flash Charging and Blade Battery 2.0, cellcentric’s BZA375 fuel-cell system, the Iveco and PlusAI autonomous-driving programme, and ZF’s TraXon 2 Hybrid. The fifth finalist, Scania ProDriver, is a digital driver-coaching service. The winner will be announced at IAA Transportation in Hanover on 14 September 2026. BYD targets one of electric trucking’s biggest constraints Among the finalists, BYD’s Flash Charging technology delivers the most eye-catching number. Combined with the second-generation Blade Battery, the system can charge at up to 1,500 kW using a single connector. BYD says the battery can be charged from 10% to 70% in around five minutes and from 10% to 97% in nine minutes under its Chinese-market specification. The second-generation Blade Battery also offers a claimed improvement in energy density compared with the previous version. For truck operators, however, there is an important caveat: BYD’s current commercial rollout of the technology is primarily
Aug 28, 2026 · via trans.info
Tesla's 500-Semi Einride Order Finally Gets a Timeline: '75 Approximately' This Year, CEO Says Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc. (NYSE:TSLA) is expected to deliver about 75 Semi trucks to freight-technology company Einride AB (NASDAQ:ENRD) for deployment before the end of 2026, according to Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli. The Rest of the Deliveries Will Complete By 2027 In an interview with Freight Waves on Thursday, Einride is planning to put roughly 75 of the ordered Semis to work before year-end 2026 and aim for the rest by the end of 2027. "The initial order is 500 trucks; we’re expecting, you know, 75 approximately of that to be deployed this side of the year,” Charli said, adding that the rest of the fleet would be “deployed by the end of next year.” The CEO added that the strategy is “U.S.-focused.” Einride is a Swedish company, based in Stockholm and operates a fleet of autonomous Electric trucks. Tesla’s 500-Unit Semi Order The news comes as Tesla announced earlier that it had landed an order for 500 Semi electric trucks from Einride, which came soon after the first Semi rolled off Tesla’s new high-volume production line in Nevada amid multiple delays and challenges. The company plans to use the Semis to deploy on its Saga AI platform for e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), among other customers. Tesla had earlier also secured an order for 370 Semi truck units from WattEV, which operates on a Truck-as-a-Service model. Price Action: TSLA shares rose 0.65% to $357.11 during pre-market trading on Friday. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Read Also: Tesla Just Dropped Big News About Its Electric Semi Truck Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link. Photo
Aug 28, 2026 · via tradingview.com
Beijing-based EACON completed its first fully autonomous haulage test cycle in Australia in December 2025 | Credits: EACON 28 August 2026 EACON has nearly doubled the number of trucks operating using its autonomous haulage system in one year, according to half-year results published this week. By the end of June, the Chinese AHS provider... The definitive guide to mining operations and excellence. Established in 1909 by Herbert Hoover, Mining Magazine provides comprehensive technical insight into mining operations. It aims to inform and support mine management in decision-making regarding mining techniques, technologies, workforce, logistics, and supply chains. Expert-led Insights reports built on robust data, rigorous analysis and expert commentary covering mining Exploration, Future Fleets, Automation and Digitalisation, and ESG. Expert-led Insights reports built on robust data, rigorous analysis and expert commentary covering mining Exploration, Future Fleets, Automation and Digitalisation, and ESG. Mining IQ’s exclusive research into the exploration sector, including a revealing survey of the segment, the best intercepts and the latest technology developments Exclusive research for the Mining IQ Future Fleets Insights 2026 shows mining companies must invest more in decarbonising if they are to meet CO2 targets The ESG Index provides an in-depth evaluation of the ESG performance of 60+ of the world’s largest mining companies. It assesses companies across 10 weighted indicators within 6 essential ESG pillars.
Aug 28, 2026 · via miningmagazine.com
HOUSTON, Texas — Bot Auto will exclusively use U.S.-based remote assistants across its autonomous trucking operations. The commitment reinforces Bot Auto’s approach to safety and responsibility, ensuring that first responders and law enforcement can communicate quickly and reliably with Bot Auto during emergency situations. “Remote assistants play a critical role in Bot Auto’s operations, providing a human layer of support and oversight for our autonomous fleet,” said Brian Moore, Bot’s chief policy officer. “We’re building out America’s 21st-century supply chain. It needs to be extremely resilient, and that’s why it’s critical that these roles are always kept within the United States.” Remote Assistants Remote assistants do not perform any dynamic driving task. The vehicle operates autonomously at all times. Their role is to support communication and coordination, including direct contact with first responders and law enforcement in the field, and to carry out certain limited vehicle functions when needed to assist an incident response. Remote assistants are already actively monitoring operations from Bot Auto’s mission control. For example, they are confirming the vehicle’s status, providing cargo and routing information, remotely actuating functions like hazard lights or facilitating a vehicle shutdown at an officer’s direction. “By staffing this function exclusively with U.S.-based personnel, Bot Auto ensures consistent language fluency, familiarity with U.S. traffic laws and emergency protocol and reliable connectivity for the first responders who depend on fast, clear communication in the field,” Bot said. Built for the Moments That Matter Most In an emergency, every second counts. A first responder arriving at the scene of an incident involving an autonomous truck needs to reach a remote assistant instantly, communicate clearly, and initiate a vehicle response. “Every one of our vehicles has a mission, and every mission has a mission control,” said Captain (ret.) Bart Teeter, director of fleet & operational
Aug 28, 2026 · via thetrucker.com
Mine automation and electrification are no longer pilot projects. Rio Tinto runs a fleet of more than 300 autonomous haul trucks across the Pilbara; BHP's Escondida Norte has deployed 33 autonomous haul trucks and 11 autonomous drill rigs; Anglo American's Quellaveco is managed from a remote operations centre running 30 automated (tele-operated) mining trucks; Fortescue has signed a US$2.8 billion green equipment partnership covering 475 units, of which roughly 360 are battery-electric, autonomy-ready haul trucks. The hundreds of autonomous trucks already in service at Rio Tinto, BHP and Anglo are still overwhelmingly diesel-powered. A serious battery-electric order of this size has so far been placed only by Fortescue (around 360 T 264 units). Battery-electric haul trucks globally remain in single-digit trial deployments at Rio Tinto and BHP. Note that Rio Tinto's AutoHaul is an autonomous train system, not a mine-truck AHS. These deployments show that the major miners have moved the technology from trial into core production. The reason they are willing to spend is not just to chase the "smart mine" label. New mines are getting more expensive and slower to deliver. Lifting the uptime, haulage efficiency and safety of existing assets is faster and more controllable than waiting for greenfield supply. I. Why are miners willing to invest? 1. Lower grade means more ore must be moved to deliver the same metal tonnage IEA data show that the global average copper ore grade has fallen 40% from 1991, and that capital intensity for brownfield expansions has risen 65% since 2020. If grade halves, producing the same metal tonnage as before requires moving twice as much ore — the workload at every stage of mining, hauling and concentration doubles. The lower the grade, the more valuable equipment efficiency becomes, and the more cost-effective automation is. 2. Major miners have
Aug 28, 2026 · via news.metal.com
The co-founders of Einride, the Swedish autonomous electric trucking company that went public on Nasdaq in June, unveiled a new venture platform at TechBBQ in Copenhagen on August 26 that is structured not as a conventional fund but as an operating company — one explicitly designed to address a gap that industry research has repeatedly documented as the primary reason European deep tech companies fail to scale: the near-absence of operators who have actually built and run deep tech companies among those writing the investment checks. The firm, called Navisalma, was founded by Robert Falck, Linnéa Kornehed Falck, and Robert Westerdahl. Falck — who spent nearly a decade as Einride's founding CEO before transitioning to executive chairman in May 2025 — serves as Navisalma's CEO. Kornehed Falck, who served as Einride's Deputy CEO and Chief Marketing Officer and led its design organization, is a founding partner. Westerdahl, who co-founded Material Economics — the Stockholm-based industrial sustainability consultancy that McKinsey acquired in 2021 — and subsequently became a McKinsey partner, is the third founding partner. Research from the 2026 European Deep Tech Investor Report, published by The Big Search and Dealroom, found that only 27.3% are former deep tech founders among European deep tech investors. The same analysis identified operator-investors — those with firsthand experience building and running the category of company they fund — as having a measurable edge in deep tech, where execution risk rather than idea risk is the primary failure mode. Navisalma's founding team consists entirely of operators: Falck oversaw the manufacturing, commercialization, and regulatory clearance of cab-less autonomous freight vehicles across five countries; Kornehed Falck built a design organization recognized by external clients before it was spun out; Westerdahl scaled a consultancy into an acquisition by one of the world's largest professional services firms. What Navisalma
Aug 28, 2026 · via techtimes.com
The next AI moat will not be a better model The Translated Bureau is the translation team under 36Kr, focusing on sectors including technology, business, workplace and life, with a core focus on introducing new technologies, new perspectives and new global trends from overseas. Editor's Note: Stop the blind race for larger models! The core bottleneck holding back the real-world deployment of physical AI is not insufficient model intelligence, but the outdated engineering verification workflow. Without addressing the inefficiency of integration and testing, even the most cutting-edge AI will remain nothing more than a laboratory toy. This article comes from a translated piece. Over the next decade, billions of machines will become autonomous or intelligent. From passenger cars, trucks, tractors and mining haulage vehicles, to defense systems, warehouse robots and humanoid robots — the entire physical economy will be reshaped around software that can perceive, make decisions and take actions. The industry's current widespread assumption about how to achieve this goal roughly goes as follows: models will keep improving, world models will mature, foundational large models for the robotics field will emerge, and autonomy will eventually come naturally. Intelligence is seen as the entire focus of this race; as long as we scale up intelligence, machine autonomy will be achieved effortlessly. For the past ten years, I have been dedicated to helping Applied Intuition build the software infrastructure behind many of the world's most ambitious physical AI projects, covering software-defined vehicles, autonomous trucks, construction machinery, mining systems, defense platforms and robotics. This perspective has allowed me to observe up close where the industry is accelerating and where it keeps hitting roadblocks. I am as bullish on the development of intelligence as anyone else, but this widespread assumption has a fundamental logical flaw. Deployed physical AI is the product of two
Aug 27, 2026 · via eu.36kr.com