Waymo has removed human safety drivers from its autonomous test vehicles in Nashville, Tennessee, as the Alphabet-owned company prepares to launch a robotaxi service in the city this year. The company's expansion into Nashville is part of a broader strategy that includes partnerships with Lyft and aims to provide self-driving rides to the public.
Waymo, which has been testing in Nashville for months, plans to launch its robotaxi service in partnership with Lyft, according to TechCrunch. Riders will initially hail rides directly through the Waymo app. As the service expands, Waymo's self-driving vehicles will also be available through the Lyft app. Lyft will handle fleet services, such as vehicle readiness and maintenance, charging infrastructure, and depot operations, through its subsidiary Flexdrive. Waymo currently operates commercial services in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco.
In other tech news, YouTube megastar MrBeast's company, Beast Industries, announced it was acquiring Step, a teen-focused banking app. Step, which has raised half a billion in funding and has over 7 million users, offers financial services geared toward Gen Z to help them build credit, save money, and invest. The company has attracted celebrity investors like Charli D'Amelio, Will Smith, The Chainsmokers, and Stephen Curry, in addition to venture firms like General Catalyst, Coatue, and the payments company Stripe, according to TechCrunch.
Social network Bluesky rolled out drafts, a feature long requested by its users. The company's competitors, X and Threads, have long supported the ability to write drafts. Users can access drafts on Bluesky by opening the new post flow and selecting the Drafts button in the top-right corner. The rollout of drafts comes as Bluesky recently teased its roadmap for the year ahead, which includes improving the app's algorithmic Discover feed and offering better recommendations on who to follow.
Databricks announced it reached a $5.4 billion revenue run rate, growing 65% year-over-year, of which more than $1.4 billion was from its AI products. Co-founder and CEO Ali Ghodsi wanted to share these growth numbers because "there's so much talk about how AI is going to kill the SaaS business," he told TechCrunch. Databricks also officially closed on its previously announced $5 billion raise at a $134 billion valuation and secured a $2 billion loan facility.
Finally, AI firm Anthropic's expansion into India has collided with a local software company that already uses the name "Anthropic." The Indian company, Anthropic Software, filed a court complaint in January, stating it has used the name since 2017 and that Anthropic's recent entry into India has led to customer confusion. Anthropic announced an India office last October and recently appointed former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose to lead its operations in the country, highlighting the growing importance of the South Asian market to global AI companies.
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