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The Dubai skyline.

Umar Shariff Photography

Wheely, a luxury-focused competitor to ride-hailing giant Uber, is launching in Dubai as the company looks to reembark on an international expansion effort that was quashed by Covid in 2020.

The company, founded by Russian-Swiss entrepreneur Anton Chirkunov, told CNBC it will offer rides in the United Arab Emirates city starting Wednesday, catering mainly to wealthy clients.

As part of its Dubai debut, Wheely will start offering users rides in BMW 5 Series cars for the first time, a precursor to adding support for BMW’s i5 electric variant in the future.

That’s a notable step, as the i5 is a cheaper vehicle than luxury electric SUV competitors such as the Mercedes-Benz EQE and the Tesla Model X.

Mercedes’ 2024 EQE EV starts at $79,650 while the 2024 BMW i5 series starts at $66,800.

Wheely didn’t at any point suggest it plans to ditch Mercedes cars anytime soon, but the move provides some insight into how the company is thinking about the electrification of its fleets.

Dubai opportunity

Chirkunov said Wheely is targeting the Dubai market, which it’s been planning on entering since 2021, as it already serves as a hub for wealthy business people emigrating from Europe, as well as young digital nomads.

“European families and entrepreneurs have been moving to Dubai in the last five years,” Chirkunov told CNBC in an interview ahead of the launch. “It is the most requested destination by our guests and our members. It sees the highest immigration of millionaires in the world.”

Wheely’s platform is tailored more toward mass market usage, however, and Chirkunov thinks his platform has an opportunity to stand out. It competes in a similar space to Blacklane, another luxury-focused ride-hailer.

Chirkunov compares his product to more of a luxury product than a general service for consumers. He compares the Wheely brand to the American Express Centurion and Platinum membership credit cards in terms of brand status.

Headquartered in London, Wheely is a startup that offers a car-hailing app similar to Uber, but targeted toward a high net worth clientele. Fares, for example, average around £46 ($57.72) for a 30-minute journey from Mayfair to the City of London.

Prices aren’t the only thing that’s “high-end” about Wheely. The company provides trained chauffeurs who greet customers, collect their bags, and take other measures to make riders feel special.

Users can make specific requests to their chauffeurs on the Wheely app — for example, having a driver collect flowers for a loved one before they get picked up.

Wheely even has its own tailor-made “chauffeur academy” program in place to train up drivers. That program already exists in London, at Syon House, the lavish home of the Duke of Northumberland.

Wheely is now replicating that model in Dubai, too.

Its members-only services — which users can only get access to via invitation or after 15 trips with the app within six months — offers access to more premium tiers, including a first-class service with Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles that come with bath towels, and an option to reserve a chauffeur for a whole day.

From Covid crash to global expansion

Wheely is making a renewed international drive in Dubai after several years of turbulence for the company.

Wheely had a tough time when Covid lockdowns came about.

“The pandemic was tough because, unlike, say, Amazon, where order volumes skyrocketed in the pandemic, for us our volumes dropped by 99%,” Chirkunov said.

Since then, however, demand has bounced back from its high-end clientele.

He says the platform recently reached operational profitability everywhere except new markets like Paris and Dubai.

Back in 2020, right before the pandemic, Chirkunov told CNBC in an interview that he was planning on raising $30 million in fresh capital to embark on expansion into the U.S.

Chirkunov, when asked whether Wheely had decided to raise more cash, disclosed that the company discreetly raised an additional sum of money internally from existing shareholders.

The funding, which has not previously been disclosed, amounts to $15 million, and brings Wheely’s total cash raised to date to $43 million.

Wheely’s existing shareholder base includes venture capital firm Concentric and AdFirst.vc, as well as Chirkunov himself.

Wheely plans to expand its Middle East team and chauffeur network to over 1,000 in the next three to five years, the company told CNBC exclusively.

Wheely reported revenues of £22.5 million in its 2021 financial year, according to Companies House filing.

The company, which remains lossmaking at a group level, reported losses of £6.1 million. That was as headcount grew significantly to 221 from 157.

U.S. expansion next

The Middle East isn’t the only stop on Wheely’s global expansion route, though. The startup, which earlier launched services in Paris, now plans to pursue operations in the United States, Wheely’s co-founder and CEO told CNBC.

Chirkunov said that the pandemic scuppered Wheely’s short-term plans to enter the U.S. market, and so Dubai “eclipsed” the U.S. in terms of focus for the firm.

Now, though, he sees an eventual U.S. launch in his sights.

“We have many North American travellers using Wheely, especially on transfers and flights,” Chirkunov said. Wheely’s app enables its chauffeur network to check on updates about the status of travelers’ flights in real time.

“We’re still looking at launching in the U.S. at some point,” Chirkunov added. “The reason we haven’t launched yet is because we’ve been squarely focused on Dubai.”

But eventually, Chirkunov says, “New York will over take London as our top market.”

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Amazon faces FAA probe after delivery drone snaps internet cable in Texas

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Amazon faces FAA probe after delivery drone snaps internet cable in Texas

Amazon’s new MK30 Prime Air drone is displayed during Amazon’s “Delivering the Future” event at the company’s BFI1 Fulfillment Center, Robotics Research and Development Hub in Sumner, Washington on Oct. 18, 2023.

Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images

Amazon is facing a federal probe after one of its delivery drones downed an internet cable in central Texas last week.

The probe comes as Amazon vies to expand drone deliveries to more pockets of the U.S., more than a decade after it first conceived the aerial distribution program, and faces stiffer competition from Walmart, which has also begun drone deliveries.

The incident occurred on Nov. 18 around 12:45 p.m. Central in Waco, Texas. After dropping off a package, one of Amazon’s MK30 drones was ascending out of a customer’s yard when one of its six propellers got tangled in a nearby internet cable, according to a video of the incident viewed and verified by CNBC.

The video shows the Amazon drone shearing the wire line. The drone’s motor then appeared to shut off and the aircraft landed itself, with its propellers windmilling slightly on the way down, the video shows. The drone appeared to remain in tact beyond some damage to one of its propellers.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, a spokesperson confirmed. The National Transportation Safety Board said the agency is aware of the incident but has not opened a probe into the matter.

Amazon confirmed the incident to CNBC, saying that after clipping the internet cable, the drone performed a “safe contingent landing,” referring to the process that allows its drones to land safely in unexpected conditions.

“There were no injuries or widespread internet service outages. We’ve paid for the cable line’s repair for the customer and have apologized for the inconvenience this caused them,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC, noting that the drone had completed its package delivery.

Amazon delivery drone snaps internet cable in Texas

The incident comes after federal investigators last month opened a separate probe into a crash involving two of Amazon’s Prime Air drones in Arizona. The two aircrafts collided with a construction crane in Tolleson, a city west of Phoenix, prompting Amazon to temporarily halt drone deliveries in the area.

For over a decade, Amazon has been working to realize founder Jeff Bezos’ vision of drones whizzing toothpaste, books and other goods to customers’ doorsteps in 30 minutes or less. The company began drone deliveries in 2022 in College Station, Texas, and Lockeford, California.

But progress has been slowed by a mix of regulatory hurdles, missed deadlines and layoffs in 2023 that coincided with broader cost-cutting efforts by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.

The company has previously said its goal is to deliver 500 million packages by drone per year by the end of the decade.

The hexacopter-shaped MK30, the latest generation of Amazon’s Prime Air drone, is meant to be quieter, smaller and lighter than previous versions.

Amazon says the drones are equipped with a sense-and-avoid system that enables them to “detect and stay away from obstacles in the air and on the ground.” The company recommends that customers maintain “about 10 feet of open space” on their property so drones can complete deliveries

The company began drone deliveries in Waco earlier this month for customers within a certain radius of its same-day delivery site who order eligible items weighing 5 pounds or less. The drone deliveries are supposed to drop packages off in under an hour.

Amazon has brought other locations online in recent months, including Kansas City, Missouri, Pontiac, Michigan, San Antonio, Texas, and Ruskin, Florida. Amazon has also announced plans to expand drone deliveries to Richardson, Texas.

Walmart began offering drone deliveries in 2021, and currently partners with Alphabet’s Wing and venture-backed startup Zipline to make drone deliveries in a number of states, including in Texas.

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CNBC Daily Open: Nvidia’s crown looks increasingly uneasy on its head

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CNBC Daily Open: Nvidia's crown looks increasingly uneasy on its head

Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., during the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) sports day event in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025.

Lam Yik Fei | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

Shares of artificial intelligence czar Nvidia fell 2.6% on Tuesday as signs of unrest continued rippling through its kingdom.

Over the month, Nvidia has been contending with concerns over lofty valuations and an argument from the “The Big Short” investor Michael Burry that companies may be overestimating the lifespan of Nvidia’s chips. That accounting choice inflates profits, he alleged.

The pressure intensified last week in the form of a potential challenger to the crown. Google on Nov. 18 announced the release of its new AI model Gemini 3 — so far so good, given that Nvidia isn’t in the business of designing large language models  — powered by its in-house AI chips — uhoh.

And on Monday stateside, Meta, a potential kingmaker, appeared to signal that it is considering not just leasing Google’s custom AI chips, but also using them for its own data centers. It seemed like Nvidia felt the need to address some of those rumblings.

The chipmaker said on the social media platform X that its technology is more powerful and versatile than other types of AI chips, including the so-called ASIC chips, such as Google’s TPUs. Separately, Nvidia issued a private memo to Wall Street that disputed Burry’s allegations.

Power, whether in politics or semiconductors, requires a delicate balance.

Remaining silent may shroud those in power in a cloak of untouchability, projecting confidence in their authority — but also aloofness. Deigning to address unrest can soothe uncertainty, but also, paradoxically, signal insecurity.

For now, the crown is Nvidia’s to wear — and the weight of it is, too.

What you need to know today

And finally…

Lights on in skyscrapers and commercial buildings on the skyline of the City of London, UK, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. U.K. business chiefs urged Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to ease energy costs and avoid raising the tax burden on corporate Britain as she prepares this year’s budget.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The UK’s Autumn Budget is coming

The run-up to this year’s U.K. Autumn Budget has been different from the norm because so many different tax proposals have been floated, flagged, leaked and retracted in the weeks and months leading up to Wednesday’s statement.

It has also made it harder to gauge what we’re actually going to get when Finance Minister Rachel Reeves finally unveils her spending and taxation plans for the year ahead.

— Holly Ellyatt

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Workday stock slips on light quarterly margin guidance

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Workday stock slips on light quarterly margin guidance

Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach, right, walks to the morning session during the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 11, 2025.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Workday shares slid more than 5% in extended trading Tuesday after the finance and human resources software maker issued quarterly margin guidance that came in below Wall Street projections.

Here’s how the company did in comparison with LSEG consensus:

  • Earnings per share: $2.32 adjusted vs. $2.18 expected
  • Revenue: $2.43 billion vs. $2.42 billion expected

The company forecast a fourth-quarter adjusted operating margin of at least 28.5% and $2.355 billion in subscription revenue, according to a statement. The StreetAccount consensus was a 28.7% margin and $2.35 billion in subscription revenue.

Workday’s revenue grew about 13% year over year in the quarter, which ended on Oct. 31. Net income of $252 million, or 94 cents per share, was up from $193 million, or 72 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Subscription revenue in the third quarter totaled $2.24 billion, with an adjusted operating margin of 28.5%. Analysts polled by StreetAccount had anticipated $2.24 billion in subscription revenue and a 28.1% margin.

During the fiscal third quarter, Workday announced artificial intelligence agents for analyzing employee performance testing financial health, and the company revealed plans to buy AI and learning software startup Sana for $1.1 billion. Also, activist investor Elliott Management said it had built a Workday stake worth over $2 billion.

Workday has seen its stock decline this year as pundits discuss the risk of generative AI tools threatening the growth prospects for cloud software incumbents. Company shares have fallen 9% so far in 2025, while the Nasdaq Composite index has gained 19%.

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