Autonomous driving startup Avride said Thursday it is scaling up vehicle testing in Dallas as it prepares to launch robotaxis on Uber’s ride-hailing platform by the end of the year, marking a significant milestone in its partnership with the global mobility giant.

The move comes nearly a year after Avride and Uber announced a broader partnership in October 2024. That deal first saw Avride’s delivery robots deployed on Uber Eats in Austin in November, with the program later expanded to Dallas and Jersey City. Avride will bring both of its flagship products — autonomous vehicles and delivery robots — under the same platform by integrating robotaxis into Uber’s core ride-hailing service.

“Soon, Uber riders will have a new way to move around the city, marking another step toward making autonomous transportation part of everyday life,” said Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s head of autonomous mobility and delivery.

Hyundai Partnership Underpins Expansion

The Dallas robotaxi fleet will leverage Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 electric vehicle platform, which Avride has integrated with its autonomous driving technology. In March this year, Avride and Hyundai deepened their relationship by signing a deal to jointly develop and operate self-driving vehicles, expanding the startup’s access to cutting-edge EV hardware.

The partnership with Hyundai aligns with Uber’s broader strategy of incorporating multiple autonomous technology providers into its network, allowing riders to access rides through the app without needing to distinguish between human-driven cars and robotaxis.

Avride has also been building partnerships outside of Uber. The startup teamed up with Grubhub to deploy delivery robots across college campuses in the United States, part of a growing trend of autonomous food delivery services on controlled campuses before scaling into more complex urban environments.

The Dallas rollout will put Avride into direct competition with other companies piloting robotaxis, such as Alphabet’s Waymo and General Motors-backed Cruise, both of which have faced regulatory and safety challenges as they attempt to scale up their fleets in U.S. cities. Unlike its rivals, Avride is anchoring its growth on strategic partnerships — Uber for ride-hailing and Grubhub for food delivery — rather than trying to build a standalone consumer-facing brand.

Industry analysts say this strategy could help Avride bypass some of the adoption hurdles faced by competitors. Uber, with its hundreds of millions of global users, provides an instant distribution channel for the technology.

The Financial Implications

For Uber, integrating Avride’s robotaxis marks a strategic return to autonomous mobility without the heavy R&D costs that once burdened its balance sheet. Uber abandoned its own costly self-driving unit in 2020, opting instead to pivot toward a platform model that relies on partners such as Avride, Waymo, and Aurora. This reduces capital expenditure while positioning Uber to capture a share of future autonomous ride revenues.

From Avride’s perspective, access to Uber’s global network could be transformative. Unlike Waymo, which is backed by Alphabet and has poured billions into developing its own service, or Cruise, which is majority-owned by GM and has been hit by mounting losses and regulatory scrutiny, Avride can scale without burning cash on consumer acquisition. Tapping into Uber’s vast rider base gives it immediate market access and the potential for faster unit economics improvement, provided regulatory approval continues to progress.

Financially, robotaxis could reshape profitability for Uber in the long run. Analysts estimate that driver costs account for up to 70% of a traditional ride-hailing fare. Removing or reducing that cost through autonomous fleets could eventually turn Uber’s low-margin ridesharing business into a more profitable model, though large-scale deployment remains years away. For Avride, the model provides a clearer commercialization path, moving beyond pilot programs toward revenue-generating deployment at the city scale.

The move underscores how autonomous vehicle startups are increasingly linking up with ride-hailing and delivery giants to accelerate commercialization. While fully self-driving cars have faced regulatory scrutiny, high costs, and technical setbacks, the partnerships are seen as critical steps toward making autonomous services part of daily life in U.S. cities.

The Avride deal continues its gradual shift away from developing self-driving technology in-house toward being the central marketplace where multiple autonomous providers plug in. The partnership represents a strategic shortcut to scale — one that could help it stand out in an industry where most players are still burning billions with limited commercial return.

The Trump administration has sharply criticized Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund after it announced plans to sell its stake in U.S. machinery giant Caterpillar, linking the move to the conflict in Gaza.

In an emailed statement Thursday, a State Department spokesperson said Washington was “very troubled” by the decision, describing it as based on “illegitimate claims against Caterpillar and the Israeli government.” The spokesperson added that the U.S. is “engaging directly with the Norwegian government on this matter,” signaling Washington’s discomfort with what it views as the politicization of corporate investments.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which oversees the wealth fund on behalf of the Norwegian population, said last week it would cut its exposure to Caterpillar and five Israeli banks. The fund cited “unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict.”

Specifically, NBIM pointed to Caterpillar’s bulldozers, which it said were being used by Israeli authorities in “widespread unlawful destruction of Palestinian property.” At the end of last year, NBIM held a 1.2% stake in the New York-listed company.

The decision follows earlier announcements by the fund to offload Israeli holdings not included in its equity benchmark index and to terminate contracts with Israeli asset managers. By June, the fund held 61 Israeli equities; today, it retains just six.

U.S. Political Pushback

The divestment has stirred anger among U.S. lawmakers. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, denounced the move in a series of posts on X, calling it “shortsighted” and “beyond offensive.”

“To Norway’s sovereign wealth fund… Your decision to punish Caterpillar, an American company, because Israel uses their product is beyond offensive,” Graham wrote.

He went further, suggesting retaliation: “Maybe it’s time to put tariffs on countries who refuse to do business with great American companies. Or maybe we shouldn’t give visas to individuals who run organizations that attempt to punish American companies for geopolitical differences.”

The State Department’s statement, while more measured, reflects similar unease about the precedent such divestments could set for U.S. companies tied to controversial regions.

Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg pushed back against the criticism, stressing that the government does not influence the fund’s investment decisions.

“The government is not involved in assessing individual companies,” Stoltenberg said Thursday. “The decision to exclude companies is an independent decision made by the Executive Board of Norges Bank, in accordance with the established framework. It is not a political decision.”

Stoltenberg noted that he had been part of a Norwegian delegation in Washington earlier in the week for talks with Trump’s economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, but emphasized that the pension fund “was not a topic of discussion.” Instead, conversations focused on trade, tariffs, sanctions against Russia, and support for Ukraine.

NBIM’s deputy CEO Trond Grande also defended the divestment strategy in a CNBC interview, saying the decision reflected heightened scrutiny in Norway over the fund’s Israeli holdings as the conflict in the West Bank escalated.

“Due to the conflict and due to opinion here in Norway, I should say there’s a lot of scrutiny around specifically our holdings in Israeli companies,” Grande said. “What we’re doing now is really not down-weighing… but we are trying to simplify our portfolio in Israeli equities, because we have ethical guidelines.”

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund — the world’s largest, valued at about 20 trillion kroner ($1.98 trillion) — is built on the country’s oil and gas revenues and is widely regarded as a global benchmark for ethical investing. Its independent ethics council has long taken positions that place human rights and conflict risks at the center of its portfolio decisions, sometimes clashing with governments and corporations.

Over many years, the fund has excluded companies for producing certain weapons, and for contributing to serious human-rights violations or abuses. NBIM currently notes that a set of companies is excluded on product grounds, such as weapons, tobacco, cannabis, and coal.

NBIM is reinforcing that stance by distancing itself from Caterpillar and Israeli financial institutions. But the move has now thrust it into a geopolitical crossfire between U.S. officials determined to defend an American industrial icon and a European institution that insists its mandate is governed by ethical rules, not political favoritism.

Gold’s meteoric rally has caught the attention of the world’s biggest banks, with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs now predicting the bull run is far from over. The metal smashed through $3,600 an ounce on Wednesday, a record high, capping a 36% surge this year—more than triple the S&P 500’s 10% return over the same period.

JPMorgan strategists say the forces propelling the rally—market unease, political volatility, and a growing lack of faith in U.S. institutions—show no signs of fading. Goldman Sachs goes further, floating a bold scenario in which gold could hit $5,000 an ounce, about 40% above current levels.

At the heart of these bullish calls is a breakdown of trust in U.S. policy. Analysts warn that President Donald Trump’s unrelenting attacks on the Federal Reserve are sowing doubts about the independence of America’s central bank, long seen as the anchor of global financial stability.

Goldman argues that if Trump’s interference revives the once-dormant “sell America” trade—where investors dump U.S. Treasurys—the shift could spark a massive migration into gold. The firm estimates that if even 1% of the privately owned Treasury market were reallocated into bullion, it would be enough to propel the metal to $5,000.

“Gold remains our highest-conviction long recommendation in the commodities space,” said Goldman analyst Samantha Dart.

The warning lands at a delicate moment. Trump has demanded immediate and aggressive rate cuts, berating Fed Chair Jerome Powell for his handling of monetary policy. For investors, the spectacle has raised fears that the central bank’s ability to act independently—and therefore its credibility in fighting inflation—is slipping.

That fear is now being compounded by a courtroom drama inside the Fed itself. Governor Lisa Cook has filed suit against the Trump administration after the president sought to remove her from her post on the back of mortgage fraud allegations.

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal probe, issuing grand jury subpoenas in both Georgia and Michigan, according to court documents and sources familiar with the matter. The investigation, referred by Trump-appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, alleges that Cook improperly claimed more than one property as a primary residence on mortgage applications—potentially securing more favorable interest rates. Cook owns homes in Michigan, Georgia, and Massachusetts.

Trump moved to fire her following Pulte’s claims, triggering Cook’s lawsuit to block her removal. Her attorney, veteran Washington lawyer Abbe Lowell, blasted the DOJ’s actions as politically motivated.

“He wants cover, and they are providing it,” Lowell said. “The questions over how Governor Cook described her properties from time to time… are not fraud, but it takes nothing for this DOJ to undertake a new politicized investigation, and they appear to have just done it again.”

Cook insists that she disclosed all three mortgages during the 2022 Senate confirmation process and that any inconsistencies were already reviewed. She argues they cannot now be retroactively used to justify her ouster.

The case—likely to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court—could set a precedent for how insulated the Fed truly is from presidential power.

Meanwhile, the man leading the probe, Ed Martin, a special assistant U.S. attorney appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, wears several other hats. He also chairs the “Weaponization Working Group” and serves as pardon attorney. Martin is simultaneously pursuing probes into Democratic Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James, both of which have already seen grand juries convened.

For markets, the overlap of politics, law, and central banking is deeply unsettling. Analysts warn that the U.S. could be entering an era not unlike the 1970s, when President Richard Nixon pressured the Fed into keeping rates low, fueling runaway inflation—and sparking one of history’s most dramatic gold booms.

It is believed that the parallels are clear, with a Fed under siege, a president bent on bending monetary policy to his will, and investors fleeing to gold as the ultimate insurance.

That helps explain why JPMorgan and Goldman both see room for this rally to continue. Analysts believe that as long as faith in Treasurys wavers, the precious metal’s allure as a hedge against both inflation and political instability is likely to keep shining.

Google is expanding the reach of its artificial intelligence tools by bringing its latest video-generation model, Veo 3, to Google Photos, allowing U.S. users to transform still images into short video clips.

The new capability is rolling out on the app’s Create tab, positioning one of Google’s most widely used consumer products as a showcase for its most advanced AI models.

Google Photos already supports video generation through its “Photo to video” feature, but that function relies on the older Veo 2. The company says Veo 3 will provide noticeably higher-quality video, representing a step-change in realism and detail. It also underscores how Google is leveraging its 1.5 billion monthly active users on Photos (as of May 2025) to bring its cutting-edge AI work directly to consumers — a way of mainstreaming innovations that were initially introduced only in premium AI services.

Veo 3’s path to Google Photos

Google first introduced Veo 3 at its I/O developer conference in May, highlighting the model’s new ability to generate video directly from still images. In July, it became available through the Gemini app for subscribers to the AI Ultra and AI Pro plans, with limits of three videos per day. Those videos came with both visible and invisible watermarks to make clear they were AI-generated.

With the integration into Google Photos, Veo 3 becomes accessible to a much wider audience. The feature will remain free with a limited number of generations, while paying AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers will be granted more usage. Unlike some of Google’s other creative tools, however, Veo 3 in Photos will not support audio, and videos will be capped at four seconds in length.

How it works inside Photos

The new tool sits within the Create hub, a redesigned section in the Google Photos app that groups together AI-driven creative tools. Alongside Veo 3, the hub also offers:

• A remix tool for restyling photos
• Collage and montage creation
• “Cinematic” 3D-style moving photos
• GIF generation from static images

The prior video-generation option in Photos, powered by Veo 2, already let users select an image from their gallery and choose between “subtle movements” or a surprise animation via an “I’m feeling lucky” button. That model would generate a six-second clip to share. Veo 3 replaces and enhances this with more realistic visuals, though with slightly shorter four-second clips.

A broader strategy in the AI race

The rollout illustrates how Google is weaving advanced AI into products that billions of users already rely on. Much as the company once integrated features like smart photo search or automatic collage creation to make Photos indispensable, the new video capabilities mark its latest attempt to keep pace with — and distinguish itself from — rivals like OpenAI and Microsoft that are rapidly pushing consumer-facing AI tools.

AI-driven image and video generation is currently dominated by nimble startups like Runway and Pika Labs, but Google’s ability to drop Veo 3 into Photos overnight shows how incumbents can leverage scale to reshape markets.

For Google, which has faced criticism for moving too slowly in the AI boom despite pioneering much of the underlying research, Photos represents a proving ground: a space where AI isn’t abstract, but directly animates a user’s own memories. If successful, it could mark a turning point in how everyday consumers engage with generative video, while reinforcing Google’s ambition to lead in a space it once risked ceding to smaller rivals.

This shift also demonstrates how search visibility and discoverability shape user adoption in the digital landscape, a dynamic often associated with strategic approaches such as Google SEO used to strengthen brand presence and engagement.