Robotaxi rules have entered their first global phase. A UN vehicle standards forum has adopted the first international framework for fully autonomous vehicles, giving driverless fleets a common safety baseline across major markets.
The move lands while robotaxis are expanding from test programs into a bigger commercial race. In the US and China, private fleets more than doubled in 2025 to 8,000 vehicles across more than two dozen major cities.
Automakers and tech companies have pushed against a fragmented regulatory map, where a vehicle built for one country could hit a different wall in another. A shared rulebook doesn’t remove local approvals, but it gives companies a clearer target before wider rollout.
The framework applies to vehicles equipped with fully autonomous driving systems, rather than driver-assistance tools that still need a human ready to intervene. That’s a crucial line for robotaxis, which are designed to operate without a safety driver.
The scale ahead is much larger than today’s fleets. The International Energy Agency expects 700,000 to 3 million robotaxis in 40 to 80 major cities by 2035, which helps explain why regulators moved before the category gets too big to govern cleanly.
For manufacturers, the rulebook turns safety into a documentation problem as much as an engineering one. They’ll need credible testing, audited safety governance, lifecycle processes, continuous performance monitoring, and safety-relevant autonomous driving records.
That raises the bar beyond polished demos and carefully mapped launch zones. Regulators will want evidence that an autonomous system doesn’t create unreasonable risk, a standard that could slow weaker players while helping stronger ones move across borders with fewer surprises.
The framework is expected to take effect in January 2027, and major auto markets backed it, including the US, China, the European Union, Japan, and Britain.
Driverless rides still won’t arrive everywhere overnight. Cities will make their own calls, companies will need to be ready, and local rules can still shape access. But the next phase is now clearer. The companies that can prove their systems against the shared baseline will have the best shot at scaling first.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.