In a blow to labor interests, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Friday that would have essentially prohibited self-driving trucks from traveling on the state’s public roads.

Assembly Bill 316 would have mandated autonomous trucks carry a human backup driver behind the wheel, a stipulation that autonomous-vehicle executives bemoaned would negate the purpose of deploying self-driving technology.

The bill was “unnecessary for the regulation and oversight” of self-driving trucks, Newsom, a Democrat, wrote to members of the California Assembly in explaining his decision.

Until Friday, AB 316 had gained considerable momentum. It passed the state’s assembly by a 69-4 vote in May and the state senate by a 36-2 vote earlier this month.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which views autonomous trucking as a threat to union jobs, was a prominent backer of the bill.

But even as government leaders of all stripes seek to curry favor with union workers — see this week’s scheduled visits to UAW picket lines from President Biden and former President Donald Trump as prime examples — Newsom sided with Big Tech, another powerful constituency.

His veto did not go unnoticed from the Teamsters leadership.

“Gavin Newsom doesn’t have the guts to face working people,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien wrote in a Tweet. “Any politician who turns their back on workers to curry campaign contributions from Corporate America and Big Tech better square up.

“Teamsters will not walk away from this fight.”

The legislature could overturn Newsom’s veto with a two-thirds majority in each house, but it is unclear whether there’s appetite for such reconsideration.

Many self-driving trucking companies, including Kodiak Robotics, TuSimple, Aurora and Gatik, call California home. They say their technology can help with human-driver shortages and make port operations in places such as Oakland, Long Beach and Los Angeles more efficient.

“We commend Governor Newsom for vetoing AB 316,” said Jeff Farrah, executive director of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association. “As a result, California’s safety experts can continue to evaluate autonomous vehicle technology.”

The veto does not mean self-driving big rigs are free to roll.

The state currently prohibits the testing of autonomous-driving systems in vehicles that weigh more than 10,001 pounds. Companies have tested their self-driving trucks in places with industry-friendly regulations and laws — Texas has become a hotbed of self-driving truck activity.

AB 316 would have made California’s prohibition permanent.

Instead, Newsom indicated the California Department of Motor Vehicles will continue to examine its current regulations. The DMV held two public workshops regarding autonomous trucking this year, considered the start of a rule-making process.

The veto marked the second narrow victory for the self-driving vehicle industry in California this year.

The state’s Public Utilities Commission voted 3-1 in August to allow more extensive robotaxi deployments in San Francisco. That vote came despite concerns that vehicles are interfering with first responders in emergency situations and blocking traffic when they experience glitches.

OYAMA, Japan — Japanese premium leader Lexus is rolling out some of its most fetching automotive designs, luxurious amenities and impressive technologies these days.

Just consider the rugged good looks of the GX utility vehicle, the regal splendor of the LM people mover and the futuristic steer-by-wire system for updates of the sleek RZ electric crossover.

But Lexus’ newly appointed global boss says an even bigger transformation is on the way from 2026 as the brand leaps into next-generation electric vehicles. The road forward will be previewed next month when Lexus unwraps the first concept for those EVs at the Japan Mobility Show.

Takashi Watanabe, who took the helm as president of Lexus International in April, said full electric drive will open a new world of opportunities for Lexus to burnish its brand persona. Lexus will spearhead Toyota Motor Corp.’s next-generation EVs on its way to offering an electrified option for every vehicle in 2030, before going EV-only by 2035.

“In 2026, we will introduce the next-generation battery EV that re-innovates the vehicle modular structure, significantly alters our production methods and completely re-imagines the software platform,” Watanabe said at a vehicle and technology showcase this month at Fuji Speedway. “We have also prioritized vehicle design to embody the essence of Lexus.”

On the radar is a software operating system that Lexus said will unlock a new world of personalized premium perks and performance, as well as luxury tailored to regional preferences.

Pure electric motor drive will deliver more direct control and excitement, Watanabe said, adding Lexus is even considering an all-electric stick shift technology that will retain the thrill of throwing through the gears for tomorrow’s electric motor heads.

A new generation of F-inspired all-electric performance models on tap is pumped up by rumors of an EV sports coupe positioned as a spiritual successor to the legendary LFA supercar. A teaser of the Japan Mobility Show concept shows a wedge-shaped silhouette with a long wheelbase, tucked-down nose and raked windshield.

It all feeds into how Lexus wants to distinguish itself from the premium pack through its Lexus Driving Signature, a driving experience characterized by quiet comfort and responsive steering.

“We consider the battery-electric powertrain ideal for controlling vehicle movement,” said Watanabe, formerly chief engineer for Lexus Electrified, the operation charged with making the marque gasoline-free. Watanabe took the wheel after previous Lexus brand boss Koji Sato was promoted this year to succeed Akio Toyoda as CEO of parent company Toyota Motor.

As former top engineer for electrifying Lexus, Watanabe serves as the architect of the new direction. Yet the road ahead is uncertain, starting with production and sales plans.

Lexus said it will be ready to sell 1 million EVs annually in 2030, which represents a huge ramp-up. Toyota and Lexus brands combined sold just under 25,000 EVs worldwide in 2022. Through August of this year, Lexus sold only 2,068 RZ electric crossover vehicles in the U.S.

Just how and where to manufacture EVs is a plan still in the making. Watanabe said the key is commoditizing the hardware as much as possible to drive down costs to compete with the likes of Tesla and China’s BYD.

“We need to make it easier to build and simplify as much as possible,” Watanabe said, adding that it is “important to humbly look at and learn from” Tesla’s achievements. “One of our first steps will be modifying and rethinking our production methods.”

Lexus will piggyback on a slew of new production techniques being readied by Toyota. These include cars that drive themselves through assembly lines and the adoption of giga casting techniques to greatly reduce the number of components.

Another challenge is setting Lexus apart in the age of commoditized EVs.

“We need to be more unique — we need to define that,” Watanabe said. “If we rely only on product alone, we probably can’t get as far as we need to go. We need to offer more. After the customer has bought the product, what other kind of experiences are possible?”

Diversifying the brand lineup to appeal to regional needs is one way to accomplish that, Watanabe said.

In Europe, for example, Lexus offers the LBX compact crossover based on the same architecture as the Toyota Yaris Cross. Customers in China and Japan, meanwhile, are being targeted with the boxy LM van, a chauffeured living room on wheels for the executive set. And the redesigned GX SUV and new TX three-row family crossover are geared toward North America, where people want premium performance both on the road and off.

“For the first time on a global scale, we’re bringing unique products to different regions,” Watanabe said. “That’s what’s unique about this time in our brand history.”

To highlight its commitment to fresh thinking at the brand event, Lexus showed off a recreational off-highway vehicle dubbed the ROV Concept. The four-wheeled dirt devil is based on the Yamaha YXZ1000R.

But Lexus engineers reworked its 998-cc three-cylinder internal combustion engine to become a zero-emission powerplant that burns hydrogen instead of gasoline. Professional drivers demonstrated the vehicle’s rock-chewing chops in a stomach-churning romp through a new off-road test track carved into the hills above Fuji Speedway’s paved international circuit.

The performance of the ROV surely impressed. But engineers said its meager range of just 12 miles on a full tank of hydrogen will keep the wild runabout in the development lab for the time being.

The launch of self-driving truck startup Stack AV represents more than the return of Argo AI’s co-founders to the autonomous driving realm.

It might be a bellwether for the broader industry’s burgeoning health, said Reilly Brennan, general partner at Trucks Venture Capital.

“That investment announcement was probably one of the most significant things to happen to the automotive technology space in the past 12 months,” he said last week at the Automotive News Congress in Detroit.

Stack was founded with a $1 billion investment from SoftBank Group Corp., according to Crunchbase records. The startup’s executives revealed their intentions to enter the choppy self-driving truck industry this month.

The company is helmed by Bryan Salesky, Pete Rander and Brett Browning. If the names sound familiar, it’s because all three were senior executives at Argo AI, the self-driving startup funded by Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen that closed last October.

Argo’s demise symbolized the automated driving industry’s broader struggles. The return of Salesky, Rander and Browning might capture its renewal.

“Those are great founders, and great founders can often raise money even in a tough market,” Brennan said.

“It’s also a signal SoftBank is back,” he said. “We’re doing billion-dollar funding rounds again. People had thought for a while SoftBank Group was out of that game, and now they’re back.”

Stack enters the autonomous trucking realm at an uncertain time.

Self-driving trucks are considered a potential salve for human driver shortages but have been met with resistance in places such as California. A bill to prohibit AVs from operating without a human driver aboard was passed out of the state Senate last week and now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is expected to veto the legislation.

Aurora Innovation, a top competitor, sold $820 million worth of stock in July to bolster its financial runway. Aurora intends to begin operations in Texas by the end of 2024.

Elsewhere in the long-haul industry, the outlook has been less sure-footed. Just days after Aurora raised that capital, Waymo decided to scale back its self-driving truck program to instead devote efforts to robotaxis. Locomation closed this year, while another company, Embark, explored liquidation before being purchased by Applied Intuition.

Stack already has test vehicles on the road but has not yet divulged a time frame in which it intends to commence commercial driverless operation.

Its founders see an imminent need.

“As global commerce continues to become increasingly interconnected, now more than ever businesses have a dire need for more reliable and efficient supply chains, especially in the trucking and freight industries,” Rander, the company president, said in a written statement.

Stack already has 150 employees. Some work at its Pittsburgh headquarters, and others are located in 14 other states, part of what Stack calls an “innovative remote work/co-working collaboration model.”

Flying cars, Malcolm Gladwell and Shaggy are coming to this year’s Detroit auto show.

The show is bringing back its Air Mobility Experience for a second year, featuring displays from two companies developing electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles. The CEOs of both companies — Rani Plaut of AIR in Israel and Jim Dukhovny of Alef Aeronautics in San Mateo, Calif. — will speak as part of the Mobility Global Forum on Wednesday.

“Building upon the laser focus on electrification in vehicles and aircraft, it’s a natural progression for shows like ours to take a look at the expanding mobility ecosystem,” Detroit Auto Show Chairman Thad Szott said in a statement. “Our ‘Air Mobility Experience’ will again this year capture the imagination of visitors by showcasing the sky’s the limit in future mobility.”

The main speaker of the two-day mobility forum will be journalist and futurist Malcolm Gladwell, the author of six New York Times bestselling books. Panelists during the event include racing team owner Chip Ganassi, Pininfarina CEO Silvio Pietro Angori, Ford Motor Co. Chief Data Scientist Bryan Goodman and General Motors Chief Customer Experience Officer Donald Chesnut.

The auto show’s black-tie Charity Preview, a fundraiser for six southwest Michigan children’s charities, is Friday.

Headlining the Charity Preview will be Jennifer Hudson — the singer and actress who portrayed Motown great Aretha Franklin in the 2021 movie Respect — and reggae artist Shaggy.