Ride AI

We deep dive with Dr. Leo Wang, CFO of Pony.ai, one of China's foremost robotaxi companies, about the state of Chinese AVs, Chinese government regulation, and how a Chinese company such as Pony thinks about bringing their services to a global market.

We chat with Drew Henry, EVP of Arm's brand new Physical AI business unit, about the future of physical AI, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and the importance of system-level design and safety standards. He also really wants you to know that Arm's hiring (hint hint, engineers).

We do a deep dive into the Tensor Robocar, the world's first real SAE Level 4 self-driving vehicle that you can own.

We do a deep dive into Dot, DoorDash's newly announced homegrown delivery robot, that has eyes, can talks, and is capable of speeds up to 20mph.

In this episode, we dive into the details of the Uber-Lucid-Nuro robotaxi deal, which could be the largest deal of its kind to date.

In this episode, we dive into the nitty gritty of what makes a good sensor and how lidar could transform urban traffic as we know it.

In this episode of the Ride AI podcast, we sit down with Ed Bernardon, Chief Racing Officer at AIPEX Racing, to explore the high-octane world of autonomous motorsport. From dispelling the myth that self-driving race cars are just glorified remote-control vehicles to unpacking the unique challenges of AI-driven competition, Ed offers an insider’s look into the future of racing. He breaks down the tech stack powering AIPEX's autonomous vehicles, discusses the parallels and divergences between human and AI drivers, and reveals why the drama behind the code might rival the thrill on the track. We also dive into wh...

In this episode of the Ride AI Podcast, we sit down with Ali Kashani, CEO and co-founder of Serve Robotics, the company bringing AI-powered sidewalk delivery robots—with googly eyes—to city streets. Ali shares the origin story behind Serve's charming, efficient bots and explains why using a two-ton car to deliver a two-pound burrito simply doesn’t make sense.

We dive into the rationale behind sidewalk robots versus road-based vehicles, the surprising stats about food delivery distances, and how Serve’s robots—some capable of 40 miles on a single charge—are redefining last-mile logistics. Ali also explains how...

In this episode, we explore Lyft’s evolving approach to autonomous vehicles and the future of rideshare. Rather than building its own L4 tech, Lyft is doubling down on its marketplace strengths—demand generation, rider experience, and fleet management—while teaming up with AV innovators like Mobileye. The company envisions a hybrid future where human drivers and AVs coexist, expanding the market rather than replacing people.

We dive into how Lyft plans to support its diverse driver base—over two million strong annually—by creating new opportunities, such as turning today’s drivers into tomorrow’s AV fleet owners...

In this episode of Ride AI, we dive into the fast-evolving intersection of autonomy, gig work, and delivery economics. Our guest, Gridwise founder and CEO Ryan Green, joins to discuss why autonomous vehicles won't spell the end for human gig workers — at least not yet.

In this episode, we dive into the gritty reality of autonomous trucking with Xiaodi Hou, founder of Bot Auto, a Level 4 freight-hauling company that's rewriting the playbook on autonomy. While much of the industry chases glossy tech demos and futuristic hype, Bot Auto is quietly building a cost-efficient, scalable logistics operation—one truckload at a time.

Today's episode is a recording of an interview from the Ride AI summit in which Vishay Nihalani of Waymo (Director of Product Management, Operations) unpacks the company’s transformation from Google’s self-driving side project into a global pioneer of autonomous mobility. From deployment strategy to global expansion, it’s a behind-the-scenes look at how Waymo is designing autonomy for the real world — and the road ahead. Interview by Edward Niedermeyer.

In this episode, Ed Niedermeyer sits down with Nimrod Nehushtan, EVP of Strategy and Business Development at Mobileye, to unpack the company’s push to bring ADAS to the mainstream. From Mobileye’s new partnership with Volkswagen and Valeo—bringing hands-free Level 2+ driving to EVs priced under $30K—to the rollout of Supervision, Chauffeur, and REM-based technologies, the conversation dives deep into Mobileye’s evolving product stack, regulatory tailwinds, and vision for scalable autonomy.

YouTuber, writer, and coder Sophia Tung recaps the week's most important AV news, including Waymo’s big Bay Area expansion, multiple Tesla controversies, Travis Kalanick’s robotaxi regrets, Rivian’s hands-free driving debut, and more.

This week’s episode is shorter than usual, but hopefully it serves as a good introduction to Sophia and her point of view on AI mobility. She’ll be podcasting more with us in the future.

As a reminder, the first Ride AI summit is taking place on April 2 at Neuehouse in Hollywood, California. We already have an amazing group of speaker...

The first Ride AI summit, an intimate gathering of top leaders in driving automation technology and related AI-empowered hardtech, is taking place on April 2 at Neuehouse in Hollywood, California. In this episode, our hosts, Edward Niedermeyer and Timothy B. Lee, preview the aspects of the event program they are most excited about.

We already have an amazing group of speakers lined up, including Amnon Shashua of Mobileye, Gill Pratt of TRI, and other top decision makers from Waymo, Zoox, Wayve, Apollo Go, Nuro, and more. There's a ton of excitement around the fact that...

Alex Kendall, founder and CEO of Wayve, shares how Wayve's unique end-to-end AI approach allows their self-driving system to generalize across different countries and driving cultures—from London to California. The discussion explores how Wayve (which recently raised $1 billion from Softbank and others) combines vision, language, and action to create more intuitive human-AI interactions, why synthetic data matters for safety testing, and how their lean hardware strategy could make autonomous technology more accessible to automakers worldwide.

The AV trucking company Aurora is spending the final days of 2024 busily getting ready to start hauling freight without humans on board, a long-awaited milestone. On the eve of this potentially historic launch, our host Timothy B. Lee catches up with co-founder Sterling Anderson about the long road of technological innovation that led here.

The AV trucking company Aurora is spending the final days of 2024 busily getting ready to at last start hauling freight without humans on board. On the eve of this potentially historic launch, our host Timothy B. Lee catches up with co-founder Sterling Anderson about the long road of technological innovation that led here.

Timothy B. Lee of the Understanding AI newsletter joins Ed Niedermeyer to unpack Tesla’s flashy robotaxi unveil.

In this episode of the Ride AI podcast, host Ed Niedermeyer interviews Anuja Sonalker, CEO of Steer Tech, to discuss a lesser-known success story in mobility technology. Anuja shares how Steer Tech, founded in 2016, specializes in low-speed, autonomous vehicle operations within geofenced areas like parking lots and depots. She explains that while parking automation was initially underestimated, it presents complex challenges requiring high precision and intelligence. Steer Tech developed the first fully autonomous Level 4 parking solution and has since expanded into broader vehicle orchestration systems. Their lean, customer-driven approach allowed them to achieve cashflow positivity by focusing on practical...

In this episode of Ride AI, recorded live at Micromobility Europe in Amsterdam, we delve into the evolving landscape of EV charging and automation with Crijn Bouman, founder of ROCSYS. Crijn shares his extensive journey in e-mobility, starting from his university days influenced by a friend's self-built electric bike, to founding ROCSYS, a company that develops autonomous EV charging robots for robotaxis, human-driven fleets, and more. He explores the critical advancements in EV fast-charging, the role of robotics in automating EV charging, and the broader implications for mobility and infrastructure.

On the latest episode of the Ride AI podcast, we dive into insurance, risk management, and driving automation with Michael Wagner, CEO of Edge Case Research.

With autonomous vehicles poised to revolutionize transportation, understanding the risks and liabilities associated with this technology is paramount. Unlike traditional auto insurance, where policies are based on factors like driver history and vehicle usage, insuring self-driving vehicles requires a deeper understanding of the technology itself. Edge Case Research aims to fill this gap by providing risk assessment technology tailored specifically for autonomous cars and trucks. Michael sheds light on...

The latest Ride AI podcast episode features Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, the former founder of Starsky Robotics and current founder and CEO of Polymath Robotics, discussing his experiences in the self-driving truck industry. Stefan reflects on the challenges faced by Starsky Robotics, particularly the overconfidence in machine learning and the belief in a one-size-fits-all solution for autonomy, and how this experience informs Polymath Robotics, his new venture focused on building a generalized navigation layer for off-road vehicles.

Stefan reflects on the history of self-driving trucks and the challenges faced during his time at Starsky Robotics, including...

On the latest episode of the Ride AI podcast, our host Ed Niedermeyer talks to Tyson Jominy, VP of Data & Analytics for J.D, Power, about the recent dynamics in the car market. They touch on COVID, the EV market, the prospect of another truck/SUV slowdown, and how these are all related.

Discussion on the cyclicality of the auto industry and recent turbulence due to COVID-19: undersupply situation, excess savings leading to increased demand, and supply chain disruptions.

Pricing dynamics in the EV market: oversupply of EVs in the $50-60k price range leading...

This week’s episode of the Ride AI podcast is a mind-meld between automotive analyst Ed Niedermeyer and tech-innovation scholar Horace Dediu about why the car industry is ripe for disruption. Their conversation is a reflection on the transformative power of past innovations like computers and phones, and the need to imagine a better future for mobility.  Together they discuss: 

The concept of unbundling the car for different trip types and purposes, similar to computing devices

Observation that the world seeks to improve cars, but they are already highly optimized

Critique of current appr...

For the inaugural episode of the new Ride AI podcast, author and analyst Ed Niedermeyer discusses the hype and disillusionment surrounding several new mobility technologies—namely autonomous vehicles—with Mike Ramsey, a vice president at Gartner. Ramsey explains the five parts of a hype cycle, including the innovation trigger and the trough of disillusionment, and provides historical analysis for where he believes autonomy is today on the road to mass adoption.

Leading up to Micromobility Europe, James Gross talks the state of micromobility in Europe with Prabin Joel Jones, Founder and CEO of Mayten along with Augustin Friedel, Senior Manager, MHP – A Porsche Company who is sharing his personal views on the podcast.

Topics Discussed:

Shared and Owned Micromobility

Prabin takes us through the Tier and Dott merger:

Augustin predicts continued consolidation in the shared mob...

Apple is reportedly exiting the car industry, focusing instead on software and mobility services. The company's decision is driven by the challenges and complexities of the automotive industry, including high costs, long product cycles, and difficulty in making significant contributions. Apple's future in mobility may lie in micromobility and smart accessories for vehicles.

🚗 Apple's decision to exit the car industry is not surprising given the challenges and complexities associated with building and selling cars. The company's strengths lie in software and user experience, which may be better applied to mobility services and smart accessories for vehicles. 📱 The smartp...

On this episode of Ride On! we are talking with Tyson Roehrkasse, the Chief Reviewer at our sister company, Ride Review. Tyson has been with us now for around 4 months and comes from a tremendous background in electric bike reviews, with the majority of his time spent working with Electric Bike Review, the OG of the ebike review space. 

Highlights: - 🚲 Reviews play a crucial role in the success of small electrical vehicles, with online reviews impacting pre-orders, investments, and revenue. - 🛵 The importance of local dealers and retailers in providing better customer experience and ser...

Arnold Kamler, CEO of Kent International, discusses the evolution of his family's three generations of the bicycle business from its inception in 1906 to the present day. The journey includes the transition from retail to wholesale, adapting to market trends like racing and mountain bikes, overcoming challenges during the financial crisis and COVID-19, manufacturing in the US, moving it to Europe, then to Chin and then back to the US all the while remaining resilient in a dynamic industry that has now gone electric.

Timeline:

In an emergency podcast episode of Ride On!, James Gross and guest Prabin Joel Jones discuss the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Bird, one of the high flying shared micromobility companies over the last 5 years.. They delve into the financial challenges and strategic missteps of Bird and other companies in the shared micromobility space, considering the broader implications for the industry. They then turn their attention to how you could build a shared micromobility company today and the opportunities that are now present as capital and some of the existing industry heads for the exit. 

Oliver Bruce is back for this episode!

Upway is an innovative company in the e-bike marketplace, specializing in the refurbishment and resale of electric bikes. Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Paris, France, Upway has made significant strides in the e-bike industry. Toussaint Wattinne, the CEO and co-founder of Upway, along with co-founder Stéphane Ficaja, have backgrounds in leading roles at Uber Eats, bringing their expertise in tech-driven business models to the e-bike industry. The company is notable for refurbishing and certifying a vast array of electric bikes, offering customers a wide selection of over 400 brands. As o...

Melvin Lian is the Founder and CEO of @VoroMotors . He discusses his company's journey, from its beginnings in Singapore to its current base in Los Angeles. Melvin detailed the challenges he faced in Singapore, including strict regulations that culminated in an overnight ban on scooters. Melvin also talks about the company's innovations in seated scooters, its distribution of Kaboo and Dualtron scooters, as well as its own EMOVE line of vehicles. Highlights - 🛴 Melvin Lim, founder and CEO of Voro Motors, explained how the firm began in Singapore due to the city's need for convenient and portable e-scooters. - ⚖️ He expl...

With more Americans dying in car crashes than at any point since the 1970s, the data increasingly shows robotaxis make cities safe for micromobility. Edward Niedermeyer talks to @Waymo about how AVs can help eliminate the dangers of human driving, at Micromobility America 2024. Highlights 🚗 The panel discusses the progress and ongoing evolution of road sharing in San Francisco, noting the city's move towards being more cyclist-friendly. 👥 The guests all share their individual experiences as cyclists around San Francisco, highlighting the importance of infrastructure and social norms for cyclist safety. 🌆 Each panelist emphasizes the variability of driving conditions between different cities, s...

At Micromobility America 2023, policymakers and fire-safety experts discuss why li-ion batteries in ebikes and scooters are suddenly catching on fire and how cities can minimize the risk - Panelists include Tristan Brown, Deputy Administrator of the Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA), Jason Levine, the Executive Director of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and Laura Kavanagh, the FDNY Fire Commissioner. - The discussion focuses on the challenges and safety concerns related to lithium-ion batteries in micromobility vehicles, particularly in densely populated areas like New York City. - Commissioner Kavanagh highlights the unique challenges faced by the FDNY in...

Fresh off Micromobility America, James Gross talks with Jimmy Standley, the Co-Founder and CEO of Solé Bicycles. Solé Bicycles was founded in 2009, with the initial concept being a class project to create affordable bicycles, specifically aiming for a price tag of $200-$300. They subsequently won an Alibaba business plan competition, and used the $25,000 grant won to create their first product. They sold their products directly to customers, offering a high-quality product at a competitive price. They used the Shopify platform early on, and utilized digital marketing strategies on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to grow their business. The br...

Meet Jason and Camilla Iftakhar of Swifty Scooters. Swifty Scooters is an innovative micromobility company that specilizes in foldable and portable scooters for adults. James Gross talks with Jason and Camila about winning the Startup Awards at Micromobility America 2023 and their brand new electric Scooter, the G500. You can see their Startup Awards pitch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRKQrqI04mM Highlights of the Talk 🔋 Swifty Scooters are powered by a LFP (lithium ferrophosphate) battery that can cover a range of 25km and assure the rider that these batteries won't catch fire in or around their home or...

At Micromobility America, James Gross and Levi Conlow, CEO of Electric Bikes, discuss the company's rapid growth to become the #1 ebike seller in the US. He also shared insights into the ebike market, Lectric's DTC strategy, plans for new products, and the need for industry regulation while also being concern with some of the current legislation being pushed.

🚲 Lectric sells over 150,000 electric vehicles annually, that is more than any US vehicle company besides Tesla

📈 Despite industry downturn, Lectric still seeing double digit growth

⚙️ Focused on high quality, low cost bikes rather tha...

Ryvid's CEO, Dong Tran, discusses the advancements and goals of the company in building electric motorcycles at their California HQ. He emphasizes local manufacturing, funding from the state of California, and innovative design techniques that allow for easier production and assembly. Tran also highlights the importance of shifting public perception about two-wheel transportation and the potential benefits of electric bikes in urban commuting. Highlights 📍 Ryvid is currently based in California, having moved into a new R&D facility in Orange County. They've also secured bigger facilities for ramped-up production and retail in Hawaiian Gardens. 💰 Ryvid secured a $20 million grant from t...

Offer and Giveaway Enter for your chance to win a new VMAX VX2 at RideReview.com https://ridereview.com/giveaway/win-a-xmax-vx2-pro-electric-scooter-usd1-099-value Video Summary Dani Horwitz, CEO of VMAX, discusses the company's journey and mission to provide high-quality electric scooters with a focus on safety and reliability for the US market. Highlights 🛴 Vmax Mobility, a Swiss-based company, is expanding to the US with high-quality, reliable scooters. 🏞️ The scooters are designed for a wide range of users, offering reliability and performance for everyday use. 🏆 Vmax prioritizes safety with UL certification and built-in safety features going after some of the bigger...