tech

Uber to roll out robotaxis with Wayve in 10 markets

Uber also has its sights set on 10 robotaxi markets — a milestone that Alphabet subsidiary Waymo reached yesterday.

As part of its latest $1.5 billion funding round, autonomous tech startup Wayve announced that it will be helping to power robotaxis on Uber’s network, with its first launch in London this year. That’s followed by “plans to scale to more than 10 markets globally.”

The companies didn’t specify the vehicle model, but said Wayve’s AI Driver will be deployed in L4-capable vehicles from participating automakers. Uber will own and operate the fleet.

Microsoft, Nvidia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Stellantis were also part of the fundraise.

Separately, an Uber filing Tuesday showed that newly appointed CFO Balaji Krishnamurthy purchased $1.6 million in company stock.

Uber shares are up about 1% premarket.

Wayve secures $1.5B to deploy its global autonomy platform

Wayve secures $1.5B to deploy its global autonomy platform

The companies didn’t specify the vehicle model, but said Wayve’s AI Driver will be deployed in L4-capable vehicles from participating automakers. Uber will own and operate the fleet.

Microsoft, Nvidia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Stellantis were also part of the fundraise.

Separately, an Uber filing Tuesday showed that newly appointed CFO Balaji Krishnamurthy purchased $1.6 million in company stock.

Uber shares are up about 1% premarket.

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tech

The way different states use ChatGPT could tell us a lot about their economies

Last Friday, OpenAI launched a new public dashboard tracking global non-enterprise messages on ChatGPT sent between the summer of 2024 and the end of 2025.

Among the 118 countries analyzed, the US ranked 25th by number of messages sent per capita, with a little over three-quarters of all conversations clustering around just three subjects: practical guidance (29%), writing (27%), and seeking information (19.6%). Zooming into the state level, it becomes clear that not all regions are using the chatbot in quite the same way.

DC topped the list of ChatGPT messages per capita — echoing patterns seen in the use of Anthropic’s Claude — and it’s not hard to see why. The capital, dense with federal agencies, think tanks, and law firms, runs on drafting documents, from memos and policy briefs to endless email chains. It makes sense, then, that nearly a third (32%) of DC users lean on AI for writing, above the national average of 27%. The pattern holds across other top-ranked states, too: New York (No. 3), California (No. 4), and Washington (No. 8), for instance, all show writing as their top use case.

Flip to the other end of the rankings, where the states that use ChatGPT the least sit, and the picture looks different. In West Virginia (No. 51), South Dakota (No. 48), Mississippi (No. 46), and Arkansas (No. 45), practical guidance is the dominant use case, often accounting for 33% to 35% of all prompts.

tech

xAI’s trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI dismissed

In September, xAI sued rival OpenAI, accusing the company of stealing trade secrets by hiring away key employees.

After a key employee was poached by OpenAI, xAI filed its lawsuit in Northern California federal court, alleging that the company was after its “secret sauce” — the methods by which xAI was able to build data centers so quickly.

Today Judge Rita Lin dismissed the case, citing a lack of any direct accusations against OpenAI itself. In the order dismissing the case, Lin wrote:

“The sole defendant in this lawsuit is OpenAI, whom xAI accuses of misappropriating its trade secrets. But xAI does not point to any misconduct by OpenAI. Instead, it points to eight former xAI employees who left for OpenAI at around the same time.”

The judge said that xAI is allowed to file an amended complaint if it wants to pursue the case, but must do so by March 17.

US judge dismisses xAI trade-secrets lawsuit against rival OpenAI for now

US judge dismisses xAI trade-secrets lawsuit against rival OpenAI for now

Today Judge Rita Lin dismissed the case, citing a lack of any direct accusations against OpenAI itself. In the order dismissing the case, Lin wrote:

“The sole defendant in this lawsuit is OpenAI, whom xAI accuses of misappropriating its trade secrets. But xAI does not point to any misconduct by OpenAI. Instead, it points to eight former xAI employees who left for OpenAI at around the same time.”

The judge said that xAI is allowed to file an amended complaint if it wants to pursue the case, but must do so by March 17.

tech

Chinese drone maker DJI sues to overturn FCC foreign drone ban

Chinese drone maker DJI has filed a lawsuit against the FCC challenging the December 2025 decision that effectively bans all foreign drones and components from the US market. DJI and all other foreign drone makers were added to the FCC’s “covered list” of equipment and services that the agency says “pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States.”

In a lawsuit filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, DJI argues that the company is “severely harmed” by the ruling, and seeks review of the decision: “The FCC exceeded its statutory authority, failed to observe statutorily required procedures, and violated the Fifth Amendment when it purported to add DJI’s products to the Covered List.”

In a statement to Sherwood News, a DJI spokesperson said:

“The FCC can add products to the Covered List only when they present a national security threat, yet it has never identified any threat associated with DJI or its products. Despite repeated efforts to engage with the government, DJI has never been given the chance to provide information to address or refute any concerns. These procedural and substantive deficiencies violate the Constitution and federal law.”

The FCC decision has cleared the way for the nascent US drone industry just as the US military urgently races to catch up in the race to acquire drones.

tech

Anthropic follows OpenAI in rolling out agentic tools for enterprise

Just a day after OpenAI rolled out its agentic platform for enterprise, Anthropic has announced its own. Built from existing pieces of Anthropic tech that have already been previewed, the new platform essentially ties together plug-ins that can be tailored by enterprise customers into Claude Cowork.

Companies can customize their version of the tool to use their branding, communication style, and private data to speed up a long list of common tasks like performing financial analyses, human resources tasks, design, and engineering workflows. New connectors tie Claude Cowork into third-party platforms like Salesforce’s Slack, Google’s apps, LegalZoom, and DocuSign, among others.

The announcement gave a lift to some beaten-down software companies.

While OpenAI was releasing consumer apps like Sora, Anthropic was busy improving Claude’s ability to make spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations — the boring but essential tools of the workplace.

The two competing solutions will be battling it out in the enterprise marketplace as both Anthropic and OpenAI seek to grow revenue streams to power their ambitious AI infrastructure projects.

Cowork and plugins for teams across the enterprise | Claude

Cowork and plugins for teams across the enterprise | Claude

Companies can customize their version of the tool to use their branding, communication style, and private data to speed up a long list of common tasks like performing financial analyses, human resources tasks, design, and engineering workflows. New connectors tie Claude Cowork into third-party platforms like Salesforce’s Slack, Google’s apps, LegalZoom, and DocuSign, among others.

The announcement gave a lift to some beaten-down software companies.

While OpenAI was releasing consumer apps like Sora, Anthropic was busy improving Claude’s ability to make spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations — the boring but essential tools of the workplace.

The two competing solutions will be battling it out in the enterprise marketplace as both Anthropic and OpenAI seek to grow revenue streams to power their ambitious AI infrastructure projects.

tech

Rani Molla2/24/26

Alphabet’s Waymo is now available in 10 cities

Today, Alphabet subsidiary Waymo announced it’s now welcoming public riders to its driverless car service in four additional US cities: Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Orlando.

The company said the service will be available first to “select riders” who’ve downloaded the app in those cities, and it will invite new riders on a rolling basis before opening the service to everyone “later this year.”

The latest announcement brings Waymo’s total service area to 10 cities, mostly located in California and across the Sun Belt, and doubles its footprint from a few months ago.

Ready to Ride: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando

Ready to Ride: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando

The latest announcement brings Waymo’s total service area to 10 cities, mostly located in California and across the Sun Belt, and doubles its footprint from a few months ago.

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