Waymo is making their NYC debut

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• Netskope is going public: In a surprise IPO drop, Netskope filed to list today after raising more than $1 billion while private in a number of venture capital rounds stretching back to 2013. The data and cloud cybersecurity company is large, reporting $328.5 million worth of revenue in the two quarters ending July 31, 2025, up 31% year-on-year. The company is deeply unprofitable on a GAAP basis, but was operating cash flow positive in its most recent quarters. Lightspeed, ICONIQ, and Accel are named as shareholders with stakes larger than 5% in the company. More when it sets an IPO price range.

• Apple flirts with major AI companies: After working with OpenAI to upgrade its Siri voice assistant product, Apple has continued to chat with foundation model companies about working together. Bloomberg reports that despite Apple and Anthropic previously discussing a deal, Cupertino is also experimenting with Google’s AI tech. Whether or not Apple will select a third-party AI company’s models or lean on its own has yet to be determined. But there is a large prize currently being fought over just out of sight: iOS.

• US government claims 10% of Intel: After reporting and speculation, President Trump today confirmed that the United States will take a stake in Intel, with the WSJ reporting that Trump told the press that decided that “the United States should be given 10% of Intel.” The mechanics of the transaction are not clear, but consensus thinking expects that the US government will try to convert grants made under the CHIPS Act into equity stakes in Intel and potentially other companies, too.

TWiST500

On the heels of news that Turo has raised fresh capital from Uber and others, the self-driving wars took another step today with Waymo receiving “its first permit from the New York Department of Transportation on Friday to start testing in New York City,” CNBC reports.

Waymo, which currently operates in select cities in California, Arizona, Texas, and Georgia, told investors that intended to test and work on its self-driving service in New York City, Philadelphia, and Nashville. Seeing Waymo make progress in New York City is therefore not surprising, but welcome for all us self-driving bulls.

Waymo is a TWiST500 company, albeit an odd one. It has raised external capital, but is being incubated by Alphabet, which of course is a mega-cap technology concern.

Don’t expect self-driving to quickly take over New York City. Waymo is the first company to earn a permit in the Big Apple, and its permission slip from city government includes a total of eight cars. With safety drivers. We’re a long way from the yellow cabs and traditional Ubers losing market share.

The progress of Waymo in 2025 — the company has its eyes on Dallas and DC for future expansion in addition to the cities it swings by on ‘road trips’. This is complemented by Baidu’s self-driving efforts reaching 14 million total rides, and Tesla’s much-awaited robotaxi effort getting started in Austin.

We can always hope for faster progress, but self-driving is delivering real milestones, real progress, and even some revenue in 2025. Next year should be flat out wild. — Alex

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