# Autonomous Mobility Challenges and Meta's AI-Driven App Strategy

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-05-23

## Transcript

This is TechCrunch.
Meta's quietly launched a new Reddit-like app.
I'm Imran Sheik and welcome to your Weekend Crunch.
Waymo has now paused service in four cities because its robo-taxis are struggling to deal with heavy rain and flooded roads, a problem that already prompted the company to issue a recall last week.
One of Waymo's robo-taxis was spotted driving through a flooded street in Atlanta, Georgia on Wednesday before it ultimately got stuck for about an hour, according to local news reports.
The vehicle was recovered and removed from the scene, Waymo told TechCrunch.
Waymo says it paused service in the city, just like it has in San Antonio, Texas, while it figures out a solution.
Safety is Waymo's top priority, both for our riders and everyone we share the road with.
During a period of intense rain yesterday in Atlanta, an unoccupied Waymo vehicle encountered a flooded road and stopped, the company said in a statement.
Waymo also halted service in Dallas and Houston because of severe weather across Texas this week, the company confirmed to TechCrunch late Thursday.
Now, this is not the first time Waymo has struggled to quickly stamp out problematic behavior with its robo-taxis.
You see, when people started to notice Waymo robo-taxis illegally passing stopped school buses last year, the company shipped a fix that was supposed to address the issue, only for its fleet to continue making illegal maneuvers around school buses.
Waymo's behavior around school buses is now at the center of one of two sets of active investigations into the company.
Meta's quietly released a new standalone app for Facebook groups called Forum.
The company seems to be positioning Forum as a platform that functions similarly to Reddit, describing the app as a dedicated space built for deeper discussions, real answers, and communities you care about.
The app appears to have first been spotted by social media consultant Matt Navarra.
After you sign in with your Facebook account, Forum will load in your group's profile and activity and let you make posts with a nickname, just like on the standard Facebook app.
Meta noted that your groups still exist on Facebook, and anything you share on Forum will be visible in your groups on Facebook.
Meta says Forum's feeds are centered on conversations within groups, allowing users to see what real people are saying, not just what's trending, and making it easy to pick up where they left off.
The app includes an AI-powered Ask tab that lets users ask questions and receive answers compiled from discussions across different groups.
There's also an Admin AI assistant to help administrators manage groups and moderate content.
This isn't the first time Meta has launched a standalone app for groups.
You see, all the way back in 2014, The company rolled out a dedicated groups app that aimed to make it easier for users to share content across groups, but that effort was shuttered three years later in 2017.
Forum is one of two new apps for Meta in recent weeks.
Last month, the social media company rolled out a new app called Instance that lets users share disappearing photos with Instagram friends.
Instance and Forum come amid a broader effort at Meta to release more apps.
The Wall Street Journal reported a few weeks ago that CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees that with AI-driven efficiencies allowing the company to build more apps, the social media giant now aims to roll out many more apps than it has historically.
Referring to Meta's chief product officer, Chris Cox, Zuckerberg reportedly said, so Chris and I have been talking about, all right, well, can we build 50 new apps?
Like, yeah, probably, but we probably should start by doing a few before we just, like, ramp up trying to do 50 all at once.
Meta might think consumers want more apps, but that's likely not the case, especially when its new apps mostly end up being copies of their popular services.
Instance, for example, borrows ideas from B-Real and Snapchat, while Meta Edits, launched last year, is largely a copy of ByteDance's CapCut.
Meta did not immediately return a request for comment.
And folks, that's your Daily Crunch.
Today's stories were reported by Aisha Malik, Sean O'Kane and more awesome TechCrunch journalists.
We'll see you here tomorrow.
Same Tech Time, Same Crunch Channel.
And until then, find us at TechCrunch.com.
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