Internal email: autonomous delivery startup Nuro is laying off 300 people, or 20% of its workforce, to preserve cash, and says it has $1B on its balance sheet (Kirsten Korosec/TechCrunch)

Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Sources: autonomous vehicle startup Argo AI, which raised billions in VC funding, is shutting down; top backers Ford and VW will absorb its parts and some staff  —  Argo AI, an autonomous vehicle startup that burst on the scene in 2017 stacked with a $1 billion investment, is shutting down …

Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Uber Eats signs a 10-year deal with Nuro and plans to launch autonomous delivery vehicles in Mountain View, California, and Houston, Texas in fall 2022  —  Nuro’s delivery pods are big enough to drive in the street  —  Uber Eats customers in California and Texas may soon have their takeout delivered …

Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Helm.ai, which uses an unsupervised learning approach to its autonomous driving software, raised a $31M Series C led by Freeman Group at a $431M valuation  —  A few bright spots remain in the autonomous vehicle industry even amid macroeconomic headwinds that have nearly shut off the spigot …

Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Helm.ai, which uses unsupervised learning to train models for its autonomous driving software, raised a $31M Series C led by Freeman Group at a $431M valuation  —  A few bright spots remain in the autonomous vehicle industry even amid macroeconomic headwinds that have nearly shut off the spigot …

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
General Atlantic to buy out SoftBank’s entire 15% stake in game-based online learning service Kahoot for about $152M; SoftBank spent $215M+ for the stake  —  SoftBank’s retreat from its past investing exuberance continues apace.  This morning, Kahoot, the Norwegian startup that provides …

Bloomberg:
Sources: SoftBank begins laying off Vision Fund employees, with cuts expected to impact over 100 people, or 20%+ of its staff, following massive losses  —  SoftBank Group Corp. has started laying off employees at its loss-making Vision Fund, with cuts expected to exceed 20% of its staff, according to people familiar with the matter.