Walmart + Zipline Run 21 Drone Delivery Sites Today

Zipline said on Nov 5 it raised $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion post-money valuation. (Zipline)

A day later, Alphabet's Wing, Walmart's other drone partner, said it plans to invest up to $125 million over two years in U.S. drone manufacturing. That includes a 15,000-square-foot Fort Worth factory with up to 100 jobs and room for tens of thousands of drones a year. (Fort Worth Report; DroneLife)

Axon agreed to invest another $1.2 billion in Skydio, taking its stake to about 37%, and becomes Skydio's exclusive public-safety distributor in the U.S. and Canada. (Axon, Nov 5)

Three bets on machines that fly themselves. The question is shifting toward who builds it at scale first.

Registered is not flying

The aircraft are real. FAA registry captures show 3,189 registered Zipline delivery drones, registry data of Nov 5, collected Nov 6. The count rose 35 in one day, the biggest one-day rise in the past week.

Amazon went the other way. Aircraft registered to Amazon.com Services climbed from 626 on Oct 10 to 778 on Oct 24, then nearly stalled: 797 on Nov 6. In the registry, the growth has moved from Amazon to Zipline. (FAA aircraft registry captures)

The number to quote: 146 against 19. Since Oct 24, Zipline has added 146 registered aircraft. Amazon has added 19.

In the air. Joby's revenue still comes from Blade, its passenger service, not the air taxi: $55 million in the third quarter. The air taxi is in the fifth and final stage of FAA certification testing, not through it. (Joby, Nov 4)

BETA Technologies, the electric aircraft maker we profiled on Friday in The Paper Trail, closed at $28.52 today, up 5.2% from Friday's $27.12 close (Yahoo Finance, NYSE close, 4:00 p.m. ET, Nov 9). We read the filings first.

The White House review office received the rule that would make drone flights beyond the pilot's sight routine on July 10, according to trade reports. As of Nov 9 that is 122 days. The Federal Register shows no final rule yet. (Federal Register, the rule's latest notice) Until it lands, companies ask the FAA one waiver at a time. DroneDeploy and Santee Cooper just appeared on the waiver list. (FAA Part 107 waiver list, captures dated Nov 4 and Nov 6)

Tesla, three fronts

One week, three Tesla moves. It is clearing a factory floor for the Cybercab. Its Texas robotaxi count has held flat since at least Nov 4. And it has set a date to open in Argentina.

MAKES: the Cybertruck gives way. Musk posted that Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas "around the middle of next year to make room for increased Cybercab production," Fox Business reports. He also called the Cybertruck "the best vehicle Tesla has ever made." The Cybercab gets the floor space. The Cybertruck gets a wind-down. (Fox Business, Nov 6)

RUNS: the Texas robotaxi count has not moved. The state's DMV lookup shows 1,244 vehicles under Tesla Robotaxi, LLC on Nov 6, the same as on Nov 4 and Nov 5. Waymo's count rose to 1,285, up from 1,259. On Nov 6, Tesla's count was 41 below Waymo's. Between Oct 9 and Nov 2 it had added 505, about 21 a day on average. We found no Tesla robotaxi expansion announced this week. The lookup counts permits. It says nothing about who sits in the seat, or how many rides those vehicles give. (Texas DMV lookup captures, Nov 4 to 6)

SELLS: Tesla sets a date for Argentina. Tesla's Latin America account on X said on Nov 6, in a short video, "We arrived in Argentina on November 20." The first location is a Unicenter shopping center in Martinez, Buenos Aires province: two cars on display and a test-drive area for ten, according to the mall's owner, Cencosud. (Drive Tesla Canada, Nov 6) Argentine press says Tesla will run its own stores, with no local dealers. (iProfesional, Nov 6) Argentina follows Chile in 2024, Colombia in 2025 and Uruguay in July. (Buenos Aires Herald, Jul 28) Sales or just a showroom on Nov 20? Not clear from what we read.

On the school bus. NHTSA says in a Nov 6 filing that most reported incidents of Waymo robotaxis passing stopped school buses came after Waymo's software update, which Waymo said was complete on Nov 17, 2025. NHTSA opened a "recall query" to assess the adequacy of the remedy, and Austin school district officials reported at least five incidents. Waymo told TechCrunch it has had no citations since March 2026. (TechCrunch, Nov 9) A fix is a claim until the incidents stop.

On the curb. Uber launched Uber Parking in 15 U.S. cities, nine months after buying SpotHero, which gives it 13,000 garages, lots and valet services in more than 400 cities. Uber says those spots could serve as staging and waiting locations for robotaxis. (TechCrunch, Nov 9) Even robotaxis need parking.

On the grid

Half of the heavy trucks sold in China in September were electric: 50.3%, or 33,100 in a month, up 37% from a year ago. The whole heavy-truck market shrank 21%. Electrek puts the EU at 2.5% and estimates the U.S. at well under 1%. (Electrek, Nov 2)

A half-hour flight in an electric Alia from BETA used about $9 of electricity, IEEE Spectrum reports. The same flight in a comparable Cessna 208 Caravan would burn roughly $210 to $255 of jet fuel at press time.

Worth your time

"This new Canadian-made hybrid aircraft could transform rural emergency care." CTV News, Nov 5.

And Jetson ONE - Rocket Lab Founder Sir Peter Beck Takes Flight

Coming up

• Today: Archer reported third-quarter results. It says Midnight received its FAA market survey special airworthiness certificate, which unlocks piloted flights in Los Angeles in the coming weeks, and that its Boeing deal for Wisk, Insitu and SkyGrid is nearing close, subject to regulatory approvals. It ended the quarter with $1,353.6 million in cash and short-term investments and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $178.5 million. (Archer Q3 results press release (SEC 8-K, Nov 9)) Why it matters: BETA got that permit in October, and Archer now has one too. It lets a company fly stakeholders before it can sell a ticket.

• Tomorrow: the FAA holds a virtual industry day on its draft vertiport and heliport design standards, per trade reports.

Last Friday, I walked through Zipline's round on video, then wrote one prompt that wakes up a crew of AI agents so I can leave my desk. Start at 7:31.

Godspeed.

Research, not financial advice.