Google’s Waymo to expand autonomous driving service to Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh

Alphabet-owned Waymo announced Wednesday that it’s planning on expanding to four additional cities — Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh — though it hasn’t provided a timeline for when customers will be able to access autonomous services in those cities. It’s begun autonomous testing with a safety monitor in Philadelphia, and collecting data with manual drivers in Baltimore, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh.

The latest announcement comes after a slew of other expansion announcements last month, growing its footprint across the country, and strengthening its lead against Tesla. Currently, Waymo is operating commercial services in five cities and has plans to expand that service to about 20 more.

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Rani Molla4h

Tesla sales drop in Germany, adding to declines across Europe

Tesla sales in Germany, one of its biggest European markets, fell 20% in November and are down nearly 50% through November compared with a year earlier, deepening what has largely been a year of sales declines across the continent.

CEO Elon Musk has said Europe, Tesla’s third-largest market, is its “weakest market,” blaming the lack of regulatory approval for its Full Self-Driving tech.

For what it’s worth, even in places where FSD is allowed, adoption isn’t strong. On the company’s most recent earnings call, CFO Vaibhav Taneja said that globally, only 12% of Tesla’s existing fleet pays for FSD.

Jon Keegan5h

Report: Anthropic hires law firm to prepare for possible IPO in 2026

Anthropic has taken the first steps toward a possible initial public offering next year, according to a new report from the Financial Times.

Anthropic has hired West Coast law firm Wilson Sonsini to begin work on the IPO, per the report.

Anthropic’s valuation has skyrocketed recently, reaching as high as $350 billion by some estimates. An IPO for Anthropic would allow investors one of their first real cracks at tapping into white-hot demand for the private companies at the heart of the generative-AI boom that started three years ago with OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT.

Anthropic taps IPO lawyers as it races OpenAI to go public

Anthropic Projects $70 Billion in Revenue, $17 Billion in Cash Flow in 2028

Rani Molla5h

Microsoft drops after report that it lowered AI sales quotas in the face of lower-than-expected demand

Microsoft was down around 3% this morning after The Information reported that multiple divisions within the tech giant have lowered their sales quotas for AI products as traditional customers resist paying more for largely unproven tech. The stock pared some of those losses after CNBC reported that Microsoft issued a statement saying it hadn’t lowered sales quotas or targets. The Information has updated its headline to say “Microsoft Lowers AI Software Growth Targets as Customers Resist Newer Products.”

While AI spending has been a major revenue lift for Microsoft, The Information noted that much of that revenue is booked from AI companies themselves, which rent cloud infrastructure from the hyperscaler — arrangements critics have described as circular deals that inflate apparent growth. Microsoft’s stock has been struggling following its earnings report in late October, when the company reversed its guidance on capital spending, meaning its AI expenses would continue to grow.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft salespeople were having trouble selling the company’s chatbot, Copilot, with consumers preferring OpenAI’s ChatGPT instead.

Microsoft Lowers AI Software Sales Quotas as Customers Resist Newer Products

Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft salespeople were having trouble selling the company’s chatbot, Copilot, with consumers preferring OpenAI’s ChatGPT instead.

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Rani Molla6h

Apple iPhone shipments are expected to jump 6.1% to a record 247.4 million units this year, according to a new report by IDC, “thanks to the phenomenal success of its latest iPhone 17 series.”

Meanwhile, smartphone sales overall are expected to grow 1.5% this year compared with 2024.

Apple’s previous annual record was in 2021, when the iPhone 13 came out. The IDC Apple estimate is higher than a recent one by Counterpoint Research, which pegged shipments at 243 million.

Rani Molla7h

Uber beats Google’s Waymo to Dallas

Uber jumped more than 2% premarket after announcing that users in Dallas could be matched with its Avride robotaxis beginning today. The coverage area is small to start with — 9 square miles of Dallas, including downtown — though the company plans to expand that operating territory in the future. Uber didn’t disclose how many robotaxis would be operating in that area.

The move makes Uber the first company to offer an autonomous car service in the city.

Google’s Waymo said last month that it would begin operations in Dallas and a number of other markets in 2026. Lyft also plans to launch there next year. Uber now has autonomous vehicles on its platform in four cities, including Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta, which are all in partnership with Waymo.

Uber has had its autonomous eyes set on Dallas since at least 2019 and announced its partnership with Nebius-owned autonomous car company Avride in October 2024.

Uber and Avride Launch Robotaxi Rides in Dallas

The move makes Uber the first company to offer an autonomous car service in the city.

Uber has had its autonomous eyes set on Dallas since at least 2019 and announced its partnership with Nebius-owned autonomous car company Avride in October 2024.

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