Autonomous vehicles

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have made headway, as prominent AV companies have been successful in securing local licensing agreements and in bringing consumer vehicles to market. More than 40 AV companieshave licenses to drivein California alone. In 2023, Waymo and Cruise had the largest fleets, with operations in San Francisco, Austin, and Phoenix — though reflecting challenges in AV deployment, includingaccidentsandinterferencewith emergency response vehicles, Cruise had its operating permitrevokedin California following a high-profile accident in October and shortly thereafter opted to pause operations of its remaining fleet. Tesla has deployed its Autopilot software to thousands of vehicles on the road. However, a string ofhigh-profile accidents and lawsuitshave made regulators and consumers wary of the technology.