Thousands of people across the United States poured into the streets this week to protest the Trump administration's immigration policies, joining a nationwide wave of resistance that began in Los Angeles. One of the most widely shared images from the city, where federal authorities have sent almost 5,000 active-duty Marines and National Guard members, is of five Waymo robotaxis that were vandalized and set on fire. The incident has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the demonstrations so far, and prompted Waymo to temporarily shut off service in several parts of the city as well as in San Francisco on Monday. The charred Waymo cars have also raised fresh questions about what kinds of technology authorities can use to surveil protestors and potentially collect evidence to make arrests. According to Waymo's website, its latest driverless cars have 29 external cameras, providing "a simultaneous 360 view around the vehicle," as well as an unknown number of internal ones.

Aurora's premier product, the Aurora Driver, can be used to autonomously operate passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles and heavy-duty trucks. Ford and VW announced this week that the companies would be ending their investment in Argo AI, a self-driving company with partnerships with Lyft and Walmart, and that the company would be shutting its doors. Some of Argo AI's around 2,000 employees would either be receiving offers from Ford, whose president and CEO said the company expected to make several hundred offers, or VW. The rest would be let go and receive severance packages that include insurance and two separate bonuses. Chris Urmson, the co-founder and CEO of Aurora, a self-driving company that has partnerships with Toyota and Uber, shared a note to Aurora's newsletter about the recent news.

Tesla revealed that it has lowered the price of its Model 3 again. Tesla shares slid Thursday afternoon after self-driving car startup Aurora said it raised more than $530 million in funding from investors including Amazon, Sequoia and the investment arm of energy giant Shell. Tesla shares were down more than 3 percent, near $305.60 a share after the announcement was published. Markets Insider reports that Thursday's selling has Tesla shares teetering toward their lowest close since Jan. 29, the day before the electric-car maker's fourth-quarter earnings report. Amazon made "significant investments" in Aurora, the tech start-up said in a press release.