For some people, the ice in a beverage is almost as important as the drink itself. That’s the audience Govee had in mind when designing its latest ice maker, the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro. This $500 premium smart home gadget is aimed at those who crave what’s called “the good ice,” the soft, chewable nugget ice often found in fast food or restaurant drinks. 

Govee says that the modern-design gadget delivers nugget ice in as little as six minutes. That’s a claim that proved true in my testing. It can make up to 60 pounds of ice per day, and has a 3.5-pound ice basket that automatically refills as you scoop out ice.

The hefty price tag means it’s not for people who are perfectly happy with refrigerator ice and don’t know what “good ice” even means. Instead, it’s for self-proclaimed ice enthusiasts willing to splurge on a fun, luxury gadget that makes everyday drinks a little more enjoyable. 

It’s simple to use, as you just need to fill the tank with water and press start on the screen. You can also control the ice maker with the GoveeHome app, which lets you start ice production from your phone or schedule it so ice is ready when you need it, such as before your morning coffee. 

The app control is quite convenient. I could start ice production from my phone while working at my desk, and by the time I wanted an iced latte, there was fresh nugget ice ready to go without ever having to walk to the kitchen to turn the machine on. The app also shows ice production in real time and how much is currently in the ice bin, which is useful for wanting to stop production when you just want a certain amount. 

The ice maker also supports voice commands with Alexa and Google Assistant, which means a quick ““Hey Google, start the ice maker,” leads to fresh ice. 

The ice maker uses what Govee calls AI NoiseGuard technology to keep operating noise low, too. Designed to operate at around 40 dB, the system can automatically trigger defrosting cycles to minimize noise and help ensure a steady supply of ice. The machine does produce a steady hum while making ice, but I didn’t find the noise distracting or overtly loud. 

It wouldn’t be a Govee product if it didn’t offer customizable ambient lighting. The smart ice maker has a light that illuminates the ice basket and adds a fun visual element to the appliance. Through the app, you can choose from a variety of presets or create your own custom lighting effects. You can choose how bright you want the lights to be or turn them off altogether. 

I mostly kept it on a light pink setting, but occasionally switched to the “cyberpunk” mode, which casts a changing purple and red glow that felt fun and futuristic when I had people over. 

Measuring 17.28 inches deep, 13.98 inches wide, and 17.01 inches tall, the ice maker takes up a lot of counter space and weighs a hefty 50 pounds. If you have a small kitchen, it can appear bulky, especially because its sleek design doesn’t exactly resemble an ice maker from afar.

As for setup, it was pretty straightforward, but afterwards I definitely needed my husband’s help to place it in our kitchen, and then again when I needed to move it around when it came to descaling and cleaning the machine. 

Overall, the nugget ice elevated my iced drinks, giving them a coffee shop feel at home and making my morning routine more enjoyable. I also observed that the ice melted more slowly than my fridge ice, so my drinks stayed colder for longer without getting watered down as quickly.

Another big plus was its speed. It made ice much faster than my refrigerator, so I always had enough on hand when hosting friends and family. The ice maker itself was something guests noticed when they came over, not just because of its size and beaming lights, but because the nugget ice was a hit with the other self-proclaimed ice connoisseurs in my life (some even threatened to steal it). 

Whether or not the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro is for you really comes down to how much you care about having nugget ice on demand and how often you’ll actually use it. If you aren’t much into ice, you obviously don’t need a fairly niche appliance.

But if you’re someone who regularly drinks iced beverages and loves “the good ice,” this ice maker could be the gadget you never knew you needed.

Micron, the Boise, Idaho-based memory chip maker, has captured Wall Street’s heart. Whether the love affair endures will heavily depend on how long the AI-driven supply crunch for memory chips lasts.

Micron promises that it has shored up its position for the long term, which would allow it to withstand a sudden drop in demand or overcapacity of supply. And Wall Street has become a believer, helping Micron briefly surpass the market valuation of Meta and Tesla for the first time on Thursday, though it floated back down by Friday to nearly match them.

Specifically Micron closed Friday’s trading with a market cap close to $1.27 trillion, while Meta was at $1.39 trillion and Tesla was at $1.42 trillion. Micron’s stock has soared over 236% in the past month alone, closing Friday at $1,132 a share. In comparison, it spent years upon years before mid-2025 at below $100 a share.

It’s a dizzying rise for a company that most consumers associated with the tiny memory cards that, back in the day, were commonly needed to boost PCs, smartphones, or other device storage.

Wall Street isn’t sweating over that product line. Micron is benefiting from the AI data center buildout boom that has created a shortage of system memory chips, both DRAM and NAND, which Micron makes, particularly High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM). A single AI server requires magnitudes more memory than a laptop.

AI system makers like Nvidia, as well as the hyperscalers building their own systems, are buying up large quantities of memory, such as Microsoft, Amazon AWS, Google, Meta and Oracle. This is forcing all the other companies who need memory to hoard it as well, from PC makers like Dell and HP, to other kinds of device makers.

This lack of supply, which has been dubbed RAMageddon, is predicted to persist into 2027. And it’s already driving up the price of consumer electronics like Apple products and Xbox consoles.

With the whole tech industry clamoring for more memory, Micron’s delivered blockbuster third-quarter earnings last week. Revenue quadrupled year-over-year to $41.45 billion, and profits skyrocketed from $1.88 billion to $28.2 billion over the same period. Micron also provided a positive outlook, forecasting fourth-quarter revenue of between $49 billion and $51 billion.

And Wall Street, which has been eager to find more public AI-related companies that may do as well as Nvidia, became even more enamored.

The historic problem for memory chip makers like Micron and Samsung is that building out manufacturing facilities to increase capacity is a time-consuming, expensive endeavor. And demand often falls just as companies can increase capacity, creating a glut and subsequent price drop.

Micron got ahead of any AI bust chatter by emphasizing a series of long-term supply agreements, including with Nvidia and AI lab Anthropic, that would presumably protect it. The company said in its earnings presentation that it has signed 16 strategic customer agreements across the data center, consumer, and auto market segments, which it expects to fundamentally transform its business model.

That seemed to convince a number of analysts that this company could be another long-term, profitable investment. In a research note, William Blair tech analyst Sebastien Naji noted demand growth continues to outpace the rate that new cleanroom space can come online.

“Given the strong likelihood of continued ASP growth in the coming quarters and improving revenue visibility thanks to a rapidly expanding set of long-term agreements (SCAs) with key customers, we see potential for more durable earnings growth and reiterate our Outperform rating,” Naji wrote.

Whether Micron really can sustain itself for long-term without a bust cycle remains to be seen. But for a brief moment on Thursday, this U.S. company was more valuable than some of the industry’s giants.

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, how AI is playing a part. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility!

A quick heads-up to readers: I will not publish an issue next week due to the July 4th holiday. I will see you all the following week. 

A series of stories this week highlight the continued — and apparently growing — scrutiny of Tesla’s automated driving system known as Full Self-Driving (Supervised). A fatal crash involving a Tesla that struck a home in Texas and killed a 76-year-old woman gained national attention after the driver told police that Autopilot — the company’s basic driver-assistance system, which has since been discontinued — was engaged at the time of the crash. 

Ashok Elluswamy, vice president of AI software at Tesla, shared a different account of the crash, claiming on X that the driver manually overrode “self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area.”

His comments suggest the vehicle was equipped with FSD (Supervised), and not Autopilot, but without an independent investigation we don’t know for sure. But we might, eventually. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have now opened investigations into the crash.

Meanwhile, Tesla settled a lawsuit connected to a fatal 2023 crash involving a vehicle using FSD (Supervised). This crash is part of a different NHTSA investigation into Tesla FSD focused on whether the system could “detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions,” such as “sun glare, fog, or airborne dust.”

All of this attention comes as Tesla positions itself as an AI and robotics company. FSD (Supervised) is currently the most visible, revenue-generating product tied to that branding.

A little bird

A reader who has shared tips with us before alerted me to a research report on Waymo and its growing fleet of Ojai robotaxis. For a refresher, Waymo struck a supplier deal with Zeekr, the brand owned by China’s Geely Holding Group, to provide it with an electric vehicle designed to operate as a robotaxi.

The minivan-like robotaxi was designed in Sweden and is manufactured in China. (These vehicles don’t contain any vehicle communication modules; current U.S. policy bans Chinese-connected vehicle technology.) Once it gets to the U.S., Waymo takes over and adds in its self-driving system. The Ojai is equipped with Waymo’s sixth-generation system — including 13 cameras, four lidar sensors, six radar units, and an array of external audio receivers.

The New York-based research firm MoffettNathanson did a bit of gumshoeing to figure out how serious Waymo’s Ojai program is. The firm examined Bill of Lading documents, which are detailed receipts of shipped goods that are filed with the U.S. government. The company counted Zeekr vehicle labels CM1e or CME, the company’s label for Waymo-bound vehicles. 

MoffettNathanson, which shared its report with TechCrunch, discovered that Waymo is on pace to import 3,156 vehicles into the U.S. this year, about 300 vehicles per month.

Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.

Deals!

Aseon Labs, a Silicon Valley startup developing mobile pods that can autonomously inspect, clean, and charge robotaxis, raised $10 million in a seed round led by Crane Venture Partners. Other participants included Y Combinator, Uber co-founder Garrett Camp’s venture firm Expa, Robin Hood Ventures, and Founders Capital.

CaoCao and May Mobility, an autonomous vehicle technology startup, partnered to jointly explore commercializing robotaxi services in international markets, beginning with Europe.

Elroy Air, the autonomous heavy-cargo ‌drone startup, plans to go public through a merger with blank-check firm ​Columbus Circle Capital Corp II. The deal is valued at about $1 billion.

Partly, a company that creates AI tools for the automotive repair supply chain, raised $50 million in a Series B round led by DST Global Partners.

Spiro, an African electric vehicle and clean energy infrastructure platform, finalized a $55 million investment from NewTrails Capital, a Chinese growth-stage fund. 

Terawatt Infrastructure, a company that provides EV charging for fleets, including for Waymo and other autonomous and electric fleets, set up a five-year senior secured credit facility that could allow it to borrow as much as $300 million from banks. The proceeds will support the acquisition and development of charging depots, the company said. 

Notable reads and other tidbits

Companies like Tesla and Zoox could get a boost from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which has proposed changes to federal vehicle regulations that would allow companies to skip the inclusion of brake pedals in “vehicles designed to be driven exclusively by automated driving systems.” 

Lucid Motors is laying off 18% of its workforce, or around 1,500 employees, and cutting the second shift of EV production at its factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. Reminder: The layoffs come just four months after the EV maker cut 12% of its staff. CEO Silvio Napoli said the cuts are part of an effort “to simplify the company, sharpen execution, and position Lucid to become more competitive over time.” In this pursuit to simplify, what will Lucid give up? 

Lyft CEO David Risher posted a blog that got my attention. In it, he laid out the company’s multi-sensor safety standard for autonomous rides. The upshot: Autonomous vehicles that use one type of sensor can’t go on the Lyft network. I reached out to the company and they confirmed what this seemed to imply — vehicles like the Tesla Cybercab and Tesla robotaxis that use FSD (Unsupervised) won’t qualify since they only use cameras. The rules don’t apply to advanced driver-assistance systems, by the way. So all of those humans who drive Tesla vehicles on the Lyft app are not affected.

OpenAI hired away Uber India president Prabhjeet Singh to be its first managing director.

Polestar, the Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer owned by Chinese automotive giant Geely, can no longer sell its new cars in the U.S. market. The imported vehicles are restricted by a U.S. government law that bans Chinese connected car technology. 

Samsara, the fleet management company, is rolling out business-card-sized sticky tracking labels to solve cargo theft. 

Slate Auto’s radically simple electric truck starts at $24,950. Would you pay $25K for a two-seater truck with a 205-mile range, hand-crank windows, no infotainment system, and gray composite material finish (owners can order customizable wraps for the vehicle)? And climate tech reporter and in-house battery expert Tim De Chant explains why Slate changed the battery in its cheap EV truck. 

Uber is facing a lawsuit by shareholders that accuse the board and management of putting profits ahead of compliance and safety, decisions that have exposed the company and its shareholders to risk.

Waymo has set up an entity in Germany, which German news outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung first reported. The company registration filing makes it pretty clear that it’s gearing up to launch a robotaxi service in the country. However, this doesn’t mean it’s imminent, insiders tell me. Meanwhile, Waymo has dropped its waitlist in Nashville, a move that opens up its service to the public. 

Zoox gave its custom-built robotaxis a makeover as it prepares for commercial service and larger-scale production at its Hayward, California, facility.