This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk unpack the escalating feud between Elon Musk and President Donald J. Trump just days before Tesla’s highly anticipated robotaxi launch in Austin.

The brewing political tension introduces potential new regulatory and market risks for Tesla, especially given Elon Musk’s previous influence in The White House. While the full extent of the fallout remains unclear, what is certain is that this risk must be closely monitored.

Meanwhile, as Tesla prepares to launch its robotaxi service in Austin this month, the autonomy IPO market is heating up. This week Plus announced plans to go public via SPAC at a $1.2 billion valuation. Could this signal the beginning of a broader wave of investor interest in autonomous trucking?

Episode Chapters

0:00 Trump / Elon Feud

4:09 Feud's Impact on Robotaxi

8:30 National Autonomous Vehicle Framework

9:41 Big Beautiful Bill

14:13 Viewer Question: What would the fallout be with a Tesla Robotaxi Crash?

26:38 Tesla Robotaxi Launch Market Reactions

29:01 Autonomous Vehicles and a European Trade Deal

31:13 Waymo Highway Unlock

33:52 Uber's Growing Autonomous Vehicle Ecosystem

35:43 Growing Public Autonomous Trucking Ecosystem

40:37 Plus is Going Public

44:06 Autonomous Trucking Market

45:10 Next Week

Recorded on Friday, June 6, 2025

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