Autonomous ride-hailing heats up amid safety, tech, and valuation doubts

Lucid used its Investor Day to unveil the Lunar robotaxi and a Cybercab-style autonomous ride-hailing vision, including a self-driving software subscription aimed squarely at Tesla’s core autonomy narrative. At the same time, Tesla formally launched its steering‑wheel‑free Cybercab concept while shrinking its unsupervised robotaxi test fleet in Texas and facing data showing Austin robotaxis may be more accident‑prone than human drivers. These safety concerns have prompted at least one research firm to cut its Tesla rating and highlight regulatory and reputational risk around full self-driving. Together, the developments frame a high‑stakes race where both companies are betting their futures and valuations on scalable, safe robotaxi platforms.