°®¶¹´«Ã½

BEIJING — Electric auto brand Tesla Inc. said it signed an agreement Oct. 17 to secure land in Shanghai for its first factory outside the United States, pushing ahead with development despite mounting U.S.-Chinese trade tensions.

Senators are negotiating safety provisions in an autonomous vehicles bill that proponents insist could advance before lawmakers leave Capitol Hill ahead of the midterm elections next month.

A range of companies, from such aerospace giants as Boeing Co. and Airbus SE to tiny startups, are working on various aspects of a difficult puzzle: how to create the next generation of air travel—one whose pilots are far less ubiquitous and new flying vehicles communicate with each other.

XPO Logistics said it plans to deploy 5,000 robots to work with humans in the company’s warehouses and distribution centers in North America, the United Kingdom and eight countries in Europe.

SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk is taunting the government regulators who threatened to oust him as CEO of electric carmaker Tesla just days after he settled a case alleging he duped investors.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on Oct. 4 unveiled AV 3.0, the agency’s policy update of autonomous vehicle technology guidelines.

The head of Daimler Trucks has questioned, but not completely written off, the business case for heavy-duty truck platooning in light of other emerging technologies and fuel gains from new combination vehicles operating independently.

Daimler AG and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance see opportunities to collaborate on mobility offerings as well as connected and self-driving cars, a move that would push their partnership into new territory.

XPO Logistics Inc. will buy 5,000 warehouse robots from a Singapore startup backed by billionaire Peter Thiel as part of a deal that makes XPO the only logistics provider to use the technology in North America, the U.K. and eight other European countries.