Plus: EV truck startup Windrose loses most of its Chinese staff. And smart-ring maker Oura prepares for an IPO. Julie Chang hosts.
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[00:00:01] Here's your morning TNB Tech Minute for Friday, September 4th. I'm Julie Chang for The Wall Street Journal. Federal regulators have opened an investigation to determine if Tesla's steering-wheel-free Cybercab complies with safety standards. Tesla launched the pedalless and mirrorless two-seater coupe in Austin, Texas, allowing customers to book rides through its RoboTaxi app. While Tesla told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the Cybercab meets
[00:00:28] all applicable safety standards, according to the filing, NHTSA said it wants to examine the process and technical data that Tesla relied on to make that claim. Tesla and NHTSA didn't immediately provide comments. We exclusively report that Chinese European electric trucking startup Winrose Technology is running low on funds and staff. People familiar with the matter say about a hundred employees in China, or most of its workforce there, departed after the company fell behind on
[00:00:56] wages. Winrose's CEO said he's restructuring to operate with fewer workers and attract investment, though the startup also faces a lawsuit and regulatory scrutiny. Despite saying it raised around $400 million, workers in the US and China say Winrose ran out of money behind the scenes. And smart ring maker Aura has made its IPO paperwork public, and is aiming to list on the
[00:01:22] NASDAQ as soon as this month. Aura is expected to fetch a valuation well above the $11 billion mark it achieved in a funding round last year. For the nine months ended June 30th, Aura posted revenue of $1.2 billion, up 74% from a year earlier. And the company said it recently turned profitable. Aura is popular among health and longevity enthusiasts. Its rings track metrics such as heart rate,
[00:01:49] temperature and sleep quality, and retail for $349 or more, plus subscription fees. The company said it has 5 million paying members. That's your TNB Tech Minute. Join us again this afternoon for more.