# Strategic Shifts in AI Translation, Geothermal, and Autonomous Mobility

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-06-18

## Transcript

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Uber is bringing its premium robo-taxi service to Houston in 2027.
I'm Imran Shaikh, and Thursday's edition of The Daily Crunch starts right now.
Now, at conferences, speakers are often delivering their keynote or panel discussions in languages that many attendees might not know.
That leads to users scrambling for their phones and opening translation apps to capture audio from a distance, which is not always effective.
Well, MixHalo, a real-time audio startup that solves for situations like these, is joining DeepL to boost the German startup's translation suite to help improve these kinds of translation experiences.
The company's initial pitch was to improve the listening experience for concert attendees through its platform, but over the years evolved into a company that powers real-time audio for sports and live events.
The startup raised over $39 million in capital from investors including Fortress Investment, Founders Fund, DeFi, partners and cowboy ventures.
Some climate news.
Few energy sources can top geothermal's potential, with at least 42 terawatts of capacity available worldwide, according to the IEA, which is more than twice the world's energy use last year.
The technology is shaping up to be the energy world's dark horse, even though investment in the tech pales in comparison to startups in advanced nuclear fission and fusion power.
Well, that makes the 19 million dollars in seed funding raised by a startup called Critical Energy especially notable.
You see, Critical Energy hopes to fill a major gap for geothermal power plants by building modular turbines.
tailored to them.
The funds are earmarked to build its first 2.5 megawatt project, the startup exclusively told TechCrunch.
Meanwhile, the darlings of the investment world, those working on nuclear fission and fusion, are targeting the early 2030s for their first commercial deployments.
By that time, geothermal startups could be building gigawatt-scale power plants.
And finally, Uber plans to launch a premium robo-taxi service in Houston by mid-2027, making it the second U.S.
market under its partnership with EV maker Lucid and autonomous vehicle startup Neuro.
The announcement follows a flurry of activity in the San Francisco Bay Area as the trio of companies prepare to offer a robo-taxi service there later this year.
Uber says it will eventually take the robo-taxi program to dozens of cities in the coming years.
For now, the focus is on San Francisco and then Houston, both markets where Uber will go head-to-head with rival Waymo, the Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company that currently operates commercial robo-taxi services in both cities.
Nuro has spent months testing Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with its self-driving system in San Francisco and has made progress on that front, including giving Uber employees the ability to hail the Lucid.
robo-taxis.
But these vehicles still aren't driverless, despite Nuro receiving a permit last month from the California Department of Motor Vehicles that would allow it to remove the safety driver from the vehicle.
Uber and Nuro's combined engineering fleet of 100 autonomous vehicles is testing on public roads with safety operators behind the wheel in Houston as well.
And folks, that's your Daily Crunch.
Today's stories were reported by Kirsten Korosek, Ivan Mehta, 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.