15 self-driving companies to watch

The most interesting companies in robotaxis, long-haul trucking, driver assistance, and local delivery.

This is the last of five articles in my Autonomy Week series.

---

The last few years have been a period of brutal consolidation in the self-driving industry, with many companies failing or being acquired by others. Still, there are a bunch of companies still plugging away at building self-driving technology, from robotaxis to delivery robots to driverless long-haul trucks.

So here is my brief guide to the 14 companies that I’ve been thinking about over the last month. I’ve ordered them roughly by industry—first robotaxis, then trucking, then consumer-owned cars, and finally local delivery.

It’s a tough business. Many once-prominent companies are no longer on this list because they went out of business. Some companies have been around for eight to 10 years and still haven’t shipped a commercial product.

But after many years of disappointment, we’re finally seeing signs that this can be a viable industry and not just an expensive science project.