Welcome back to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• 👩🏻‍💻 Waymo, Uber begin offering robotaxi

• 📊 Google’s data science agent

• 🏭 TSMC’s $100B chip investment in US

• 🗣️ Microsoft’s voice AI assistant for healthcare

Let’s get right into it!

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STARTUPS

Waymo, Uber begin offering robotaxi

Waymo has launched robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas, via the Uber app, just in time for the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, which attracts around 300,000 visitors annually. This marks the first market where Uber will manage and dispatch a fleet of Waymo vehicles, unlike Phoenix, where it only facilitates bookings. Waymo and Uber plan to expand their partnership to Atlanta later this year.

Waymo, a leader in autonomous driving with over 200,000 weekly paid trips across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, faces potential competition from Tesla’s upcoming driverless rideshare service, set to launch in Austin in June. While Tesla’s CyberCab robotaxi is not yet in production, Waymo's service covers 37 square miles of Austin, including downtown, Hyde Park, and Montopolis. Uber users requesting UberX, Uber Comfort, Uber Green, or Uber Comfort Electric may be matched with Waymo’s driverless vehicles.

BIG TECH

Google’s data science agent

Google has launched a new AI-powered data science agent, integrated into Google Colab and powered by Gemini 2.0, to automate data analysis. This free tool, available to users aged 18 and older in select regions, allows researchers, data scientists, and developers to generate fully functional Jupyter notebooks using natural language descriptions.

Initially tested in late 2024, the agent simplifies workflows by eliminating manual setup, automating analysis, and enhancing collaboration. Users can describe tasks like visualizing trends or training models, and the AI generates executable code.

GLOBAL NEWS

TSMC’s $100B chip investment in US

Taiwanese chip giant TSMC announced a $100 billion investment to build three new semiconductor manufacturing plants in the U.S., expanding on its existing commitments. The company, which supplies 90% of the world’s most advanced chips to firms like Apple and Nvidia, had previously committed $65 billion under the CHIPS and Science Act to bolster U.S. chip production.

TSMC’s first Arizona plant has begun mass production, employing 3,000 workers, while geopolitical concerns drive further U.S. expansion. Amid Trump’s criticism of the CHIPS Act and potential tariffs on foreign-made chips, TSMC and Taiwan’s government are engaging in talks to align on policy and investment strategies.

BIG TECH

Microsoft’s voice AI assistant for healthcare

Microsoft has introduced Dragon Copilot, a new voice-activated AI assistant that merges its Dragon Medical One dictation tool with the DAX Copilot ambient listening solution to streamline medical documentation. Designed to reduce clinician burnout by automating administrative tasks, Dragon Copilot helps doctors draft clinical notes, referral letters, and post-visit summaries while also pulling information from medical sources.

The AI assistant, accessible via mobile, browser, and desktop, integrates directly with electronic health records and allows physicians to refine notes and ask treatment-related questions using natural language. Dragon Copilot will launch in the U.S. and Canada in May, with expansions to Europe in the following months, as Microsoft continues its push to modernize healthcare documentation with AI.