Can Uber catch up on robotaxis?

Can Uber catch up on robotaxis?

In a radical pivot away from its signature asset-light model, Uber [UBER] has committed over $10bn to buying autonomous vehicles, taking equity stakes and purchasing fleets. The company has struck deals with more than a dozen partners, the Financial Times reported, including Baidu [BIDU] and Rivian [RIVN], with plans to launch services in at least 15 cities in 2026. It has also expanded its partnership with Lucid [LCID], committing $500m and ordering at least 35,000 vehicles.

“Light speed”: Musk’s chip fab push

Elon Musk’s team has approached chip equipment suppliers including Applied Materials [AMAT], Tokyo Electron [TOELY] and Lam Research [LRCX] as part of early efforts to build Terafab, his advanced semiconductor venture. Musk wants to move at “light speed”, Bloomberg reported; Staff from the joint initiative between Tesla [TSLA] and SpaceX are targeting silicon production by 2029.

AI demand drives Taiwan’s bourse to new high

Taiwan’s stock market has surpassed the UK’s in value, becoming the world’s seventh largest. Total market capitalisation has reached $4.13tn, overtaking the UK’s $4.09tn, driven by demand for chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co [TSM]. The chipmaker recently reported record results, with net income rising 58% to NT$572.5bn and revenue up 35% to NT$1.13tn.

Tempus AI aims for 25% growth 

CEO Eric Lefkofsky has called Tempus AI [TEM] “a technology company operating in the healthcare space”. The firm’s strong 2025 and expanding role in data-driven healthcare suggest its 25% growth target for 2026 is achievable, though far from guaranteed. CMC Aureon details how the investment case for TEM stock hinges on continued execution in diagnostics and the scaling of its higher-margin data business, both of which appear to be gaining traction. 

SNAP job cuts

The social media firm [SNAP] is laying off 1,000 employees, equivalent to 16% of its total workforce, and closing open roles in an effort to cut costs and push towards profitability. CEO Evan Spiegel cited an organisational shift to “small squads leveraging AI tools to drive meaningful progress” in a recent filing. The changes are expected to save Snap up to $500m by the second half of the year, according to The Verge. 

Alibaba challenges Tencent with AI game generator

On Thursday, Alibaba [BABA] stepped up its competition with Tencent [TCEHY] in the gaming space by launching Happy Oyster, a so-called world model capable of rendering 3D environments and interactive videos. According to Bloomberg, the model can produce films, video content and games. The release comes in the wake of Alibaba’s Happy Horse video AI model debut last week.

What's driving China's robotaxi market?

According to a report from Goldman Sachs, China’s robotaxi market is entering a high-growth phase, with projections estimating a potential 700x growth from 2025 levels to a market size of $47bn by 2035, driven by falling hardware costs and increasing government support. CMC Aureon unpacks the investment cases for Baidu, Pony.ai [PONY] and WeRide [WRD], the three firms at the forefront of the space.