Autonomous Acceleration: AI, Trucks, Robotaxis, Chips, and EV Profitability Shape Mobility’s Next Chapter

Artificial intelligence is redefining every corner of mobility from autonomous trucking and robotaxi fleets to datacenter acceleration and the financial models behind smart EV platforms.
This week delivered four major developments that highlight how rapidly the AI mobility ecosystem is scaling across North America, China, and the global EV market.

From Pony.ai’s next-generation autonomous trucks to Waymo’s aggressive city expansion, groundbreaking 3D DRAM accelerators, and Xiaomi’s profit surge, here’s how the road ahead is taking shape.

Pony.ai Expands Into Fourth-Generation Autonomous Heavy Trucks

Pony.ai is expanding its autonomous ambitions beyond robotaxis, partnering with SANY TRUCK and Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor to co-develop fourth-generation autonomous heavy-duty trucks.
These new trucks are built on next-generation battery-electric (BEV) platforms, enabling safer, cleaner, and more intelligent freight operations.

The companies are targeting mass production in the thousands, with large-scale fleet deployment beginning next year.
With China being the world’s largest freight market, Pony.ai’s push into industrial autonomy signals a massive shift: L4 autonomous tech is now scaling from city roads to long-haul logistics, offering transformative potential for cost, efficiency, and safety.

Waymo Goes Fully Driverless in Miami, Expands to Four More U.S. Cities

Autonomous driving in the U.S. reached another milestone as Waymo launched fully driverless robotaxi operations in Miami.
The company will begin employee rides in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando within weeks, ahead of public launches in 2026.

Waymo now operates over 1,500 autonomous vehicles, making it the largest robotaxi fleet in the world.
The expansion reflects Waymo’s steady shift from pilot zones to national-scale deployment, leveraging years of real-world data from Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

With highways, suburban networks, and dense urban zones included in its operational footprint, Waymo continues to widen the gap in commercial L4 deployment relative to competitors such as Cruise and Zoox.

d-Matrix and Alchip Unveil a 3D DRAM Breakthrough for AI Inference

AI compute is evolving just as fast as autonomous vehicles and d-Matrix is pushing hardware boundaries through a collaboration with Alchip.
The two companies are co-developing a 3D DRAM–based datacenter inference accelerator, combining:

• d-Matrix’s 3DIMC architecture

• Validation on Pavehawk

• Debut on the Raptor accelerator card

The accelerator targets up to 10× faster inference performance than HBM4-based solutions, positioning it as a potential disruptor in the next wave of AI compute.
As LLMs and multimodal AI models grow rapidly, breakthroughs like this are essential to power real-time autonomy, simulation, and onboard intelligence.

Xiaomi’s EV and AI Business Turns Profitable

In a major milestone for China’s fast-growing smart EV sector, Xiaomi announced its first-ever operating profit for its EV and AI division.
For Q3 2025, the segment delivered:

• 700 million yuan operating profit

• 22% revenue growth to 113.1 billion yuan

• 81% surge in adjusted net profit to 11.3 billion yuan

The success reflects strong demand for Xiaomi’s EV models and the performance of its integrated AI ecosystem spanning cars, homes, and consumer devices.
With profitability achieved just a year after entering the EV market, Xiaomi is emerging as a formidable competitor to BYD, NIO, and Tesla’s mid-segment offerings.

A New Phase of Intelligent Mobility

From autonomous trucks and robotaxis to AI memory breakthroughs and profitable EV ecosystems, the autonomous mobility revolution is accelerating on multiple fronts.
As production scales, compute evolves, and business models strengthen, 2026 is shaping up to be the first year where autonomy truly goes mainstream.