- Essays··8 min read
The Rate Ford Can Absorb and Waymo Cannot
Ford raised its full-year profit guidance twice over the summer on $2.5 billion of quarterly operating income; Waymo, in the same fortnight, reported a loss five times its own segment revenue. The Federal Reserve's first rate hike since 2023 — 25 basis points on 16 September — does not reprice either company overnight, but it widens the asymmetric downside on long-duration AV bets funded by someone else's balance sheet.
autonomous-vehiclescapital-marketsinterest-rateselectric-vehiclesRead - Essays··8 min read
The Robotaxi Fleet on Saadiyat Just Changed Passports
Space42's decision to replace Chinese-made autonomous vehicles on Saadiyat and Yas Islands with a Korean fleet from Autonomous A2Z is the first legible signal that Gulf sovereign operators are treating AV supplier selection as a geopolitical-risk register entry. A foreign-controlled autonomous fleet can be paused on someone else's political calendar, as WeRide demonstrated during the Iranian missile strikes of March 2026. Abu Dhabi wrote that risk down. Dubai did not.
autonomous-vehiclesrobotaxiai-sovereigntygulf-techRead