Lucid announces Cybercab competitor and self-driving tech subscription in a bid to take on Tesla

Lucid’s vehicle has two seats and no steering wheel... a lot like another vehicle we’ve been hearing a lot about lately.

Rani Molla

3/12/26 12:42PM

At Lucid’s Investor Day Thursday, the company announced plans that seem a lot like that of its bigger electric vehicle competitor, Tesla. That includes a monthly subscription for its self-driving tech, akin to Tesla’s supervised Full Self-Driving, as well as a purpose-built robotaxi that features two seats and no steering wheel — similar to Tesla’s forthcoming Cybercab.

This is all part of CEO Marc Winterhoff’s goal of “accelerating to profitability,” with the company hoping to become free cash flow positive later this decade.

Lucid said its subscription will cost between $69 and $199 per month, depending on the level of autonomous capability. The robotaxi vehicle, meanwhile, remains in the concept phase. Tesla’s subscription costs $99 a month and Musk has said the Cybercab would come in at under $30,000.

The moves so far don’t seem to be inspiring confidence in Lucid, which is down more than 7% today.

Press preview of the Tesla Cybercab exhibition — A prototype of the Tesla Cybercab (Hannes P. Albert/Getty Images)

A Tesla engineer previously noted that most miles are driven with one or two passengers — a key reason the Cybercab was designed as a two-seater.

Tesla has been rolling out steering-wheel-having Cybercabs for testing, but has said it plans to go into production with the original steering-wheel-less ones in April. Tesla has not yet applied to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for an exemption in order to sell vehicles without steering wheels or gas pedals, so it’s likely if these vehicles do appear that they will only be part of the company’s Austin Robotaxi fleet. Recently, just one of the vehicles in service has been seen operating without a person in the front seat.

EV sales generally have continued to struggle following the end of the $7,500 federal tax credit. However, pure-play EV makers like Tesla and Rivian have lately seen their market share grow in the US, thanks in part to major manufacturers leaving the field.

Rani Molla6h

OpenAI’s models are officially coming to Amazon

Amazon is finally getting in on the hottest ticket in tech.

After Microsoft announced yesterday that it has agreed to give up its exclusive rights to sell OpenAI’s models, Amazon, as expected, will start offering them to customers — something Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman says users have been asking for “for a really long time.” Some models are available now in preview, and the most powerful GPT versions will show up “in the coming weeks.”

This is a big shift in the AI cloud wars. Microsoft’s early bet on OpenAI gave Azure an edge by locking up the most in-demand models. Now that exclusivity is gone, Amazon and other competitors can finally offer them too, closing a key gap and competing more directly for AI customers.

Amazon Set to Sell OpenAI Tech After Microsoft Cedes Exclusivity

Claire Yubin Oh9h

Ship-tracking app surges as Iran war continues

As Middle East peace talks stretch on, with Tehran reportedly offering to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its blockade and the war ends, the owner of shipping intelligence platform MarineTraffic revealed that the app has gained millions of new users since the conflict began.

MarineTraffic’s user count jumped to 8.5 million this April, up from 3.5 million a year ago, the cofounder of its parent company, Kpler, said in an interview with the Financial Times. Paid subscribers, often workers within companies and governments looking for more data on supply chains and commodities trading, rose 11,000 in the same period.

Kpler, which also owns shipping intelligence platform FleetMon, draws its data from a range of sources, including the Automatic Identification System, satellites, and more than 500 people on-site, like port terminal operators.

Per Appfigures data, MarineTraffic is estimated to have raked in almost $1 million across March and April in app revenue (through April 27), more than double the ~$346,500 from the same months last year. Across the full year, Kpler expects to earn between $300 million and $400 million in annual recurring revenues.

Rani Molla

pedal to the meta

10h

Meta could be getting ready to post its highest revenue growth since 2021

Meta’s outlook and analyst estimates suggest more than 30% revenue growth in Q1.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visits U.S. Capitol for Senate meetings

Tom Jones14h

Google will supply AI models to Pentagon in classified deal, per The Information

Google has become the latest tech company to ink an agreement to supply the Department of Defense (War) with AI, having reportedly closed a classified deal that allows the Pentagon to use its AI for “any lawful government purpose,” according to The Information.

The Information initially reported talks between the Alphabet-owned company and the US government around two weeks ago, following the messy breakdown of the relationship between Anthropic and the Trump administration — and the rushed OpenAI deal that took its place.

The move has reportedly sparked opposition among Google employees, with The Washington Post reporting that over 600 workers signed a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai to ask him to bar the Defense Department from using the company’s AI models for any classified work.