When Google spun off its self-driving car project in 2016 as a separate company called Waymo, the auto world took notice. Since then, Waymo has led the pack of autonomous vehicle developers, setting the stage for what could be a massive transformation in personal mobility. The company was among the first to deploy fully driverless cars, and it has its sights set on ride-hailing and freight hauling as its commercial pursuits. Waymo’s position at the top of the technological hierarchy will tell us whether self-driving cars are truly transformative or just a passing fad.
In Dallas, Waymo’s fleet will be managed through “a new strategic, multi-year partnership with Avis Budget Group,” Waymo says.
[waymo.com]
The two people were shot Sunday night while sitting in a Waymo robotaxi near Santa Monica’s 3rd Street promenade, KCAL News reports. We still don’t have any details about the condition or identities of the victims, and police are still actively searching for a suspect. The shooting comes a few weeks after five Waymo vehicles were vandalized and destroyed during anti-ICE protests in downtown Los Angeles.
At least five of Alphabet’s autonomous cars have been set on fire, according to the New York Times, as protesters rage against the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. “We will not be serving any rides in the protest area until it is deemed safe,” a Waymo spokesperson said.
The Alphabet-owned company is planning to set its vehicles loose in Houston, Orlando, and San Antonio as part of its 2025 “road trip.” The vehicles will be manually driven, and the testing operations are not necessarily a precursor to the launch of a commercial robotaxi service — nor is Waymo precluded from launching a service, either. The company sees it as an opportunity to see how well its self-driving system adapts to new locales with varying weather conditions and regional driving habits. Waymo previously said it was testing its vehicles in Las Vegas, Miami, and Japan.
ATL will be the second city, after Austin, where Waymo’s driverless cars will be available exclusively on the Uber app. Ahead of the public launch this summer, Uber is opening up access to a group of riders selected from the company’s interest list for early test rides. Those riders will get $10 in Uber cash to use on their Waymo ride. And in exchange they’ll be asked to share feedback on the ride, as well as rate the experience after drop-offs. After a few week, Waymo’s driverless vehicles will be available to anyone with an Uber account who’s traveling within the 65-square mile service area that includes Downtown, Buckhead, and Capitol View.
Waymo’s robotaxis are available exclusively on the Uber app in the Texas capital, and today the ridehailing company provided some color on how that partnership is going since its launch in early March. Waymo’s approximately 100 vehicles in Austin are “busier than over 99% of all drivers in Austin in terms of completed trips per day,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in prepared remarks during the company’s Q1 earnings call. He added, “So far, this launch has exceeded our expectations.”
[s23.q4cdn.com]
Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle company has “reached a preliminary agreement” with the world’s largest automaker “to explore a collaboration focused on accelerating the development and deployment of autonomous driving technologies,” according to a just-published blogpost. Does that mean we’ll soon be getting driverless Rav4s? Too soon to say, but the agreement also includes Woven, which is Toyota’s autonomous subsidiary. And the announcement specifically mention’s Toyota’s expertise to enhance next-generation personally owned vehicles (POVs)” — which we know is on the mind of Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
Users on the Uber app can sign up to gain early access to the robotaxi service, which will take people across 65 square miles of Atlanta, including Downtown, Buckhead, and Capitol View. Waymo says “select riders” who join the waitlist “may get access to Waymo rides ahead of the public launch.”
Last month, Waymo similarly launched in Austin exclusively through Uber.
KTLA reports that the walk-up window remained open on Monday night while the Waymo failed to exit a Chick-fil-A in Santa Monica, CA, as shown in this video posted by TMZ.
TechCrunch confirmed with Waymo that the car had dropped off a passenger in the parking lot, but couldn’t complete a multi-point turn in the tight space of the drive-thru lane with other cars nearby and stayed there until it was eventually recovered.
Security researcher Jane Manchun Wong has discovered another hidden Waymo gem, this time related to the robotaxi operator’s use of footage from its interior cameras to train generative AI. According to a screenshot of an unreleased privacy policy, Waymo is offering customers the opportunity to opt-out from having their “personal information,” including “interior camera data associated with your identity,” to train generative AI models. Waymo uses this data to “tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests.” Coming soon to a robotaxi near you?
This perfect billboard was spotted in LA by The Curbivore (which crossed my radar via Glenn Mercer’s Car Charts). My hat’s off to the Law Brothers’ pun game. And the fact that this photo was taken from a Waymo vehicle is just the cherry on top.
Waymo has been testing the new vehicle for months now, but always with camouflage. Now it seems like the wrapping is coming off, thanks to this video captured by YouTube channel “I Love Vehicles.” As some Reddit users noted, the rear lidar in particular could prove tempting to folks looking to do some chin-ups.
Me? I’m just amazed that Waymo is able to clear all the tariffs and restrictions on Chinese-made electric vehicles. Waymo says it doesn’t expect to receive the bulk of deliveries from Zeekr until late 2025. Who knows what tariffs will be in place by then!
The Rideshare Guy’s Harry Campbell got ahold of a survey asking about a potential Waymo membership program, with potential perks such as cash back and discounts for future robotaxi rides. The monthly plans could cost between $9.99-$29.99. As Campbell notes, with a small but ardent customer base, it makes sense that Waymo is trying to lock in loyalty of its fans, especially as it looks to grow to new markets. Still, it begs the question whether the company is jumping the gun by introducing a membership program while operating in only three cities. And unlike Uber, Waymo doesn’t have a food delivery business with which to whet appetites.
[thedriverlessdigest.com]
Customers who book a robotaxi to select LA transit stations can get a $3 credit that can be applied to future Waymo rides. The promotion will run February 4-April 1, and is specifically geared toward helping LA residents get to LAX via bus. (Waymo still isn’t making airport runs in LA, nor does it operate on the freeways — yet.) Waymo says the promotion will help it learn how customers use (or don’t use) its self-driving cars as first- and last-mile options for public transportation. But some experts worry that autonomous vehicles will siphon riders from transit, which could lead to service cuts.
Waymo just flipped the switch from supervised to unsupervised in Atlanta, where it aims to eventually launch a commercial robotaxi service later this year through an exclusive partnership with Uber. But for now, the Alphabet-owned company’s vehicles will only be available to employees. Waymo is currently operating in San Francisco, Phoenix, and LA, and is still operating under a waitlist in Austin. Also on deck: Miami.
It’s a big move for the robotaxi company, especially if they want to cut down on trip times amid competition with Uber and other human-powered services. The company said that a 17 mile trip from Santa Monica Pier to the Broad museum utilizing Interstate 10 would be 50 percent faster than local roads. Waymo has been slowly expanding its geofence to include more freeways, most notably in Phoenix.
This time it occurred during an “illegal” street takeover near the Beverly Center in LA. Video from Fox 11 shows a crowd of people basically dismantling the driverless car piece by piece, and then using the broken pieces to smash the windows. This is going to happen more frequently as these cars spread to more cities, but obviously you are taking a huge risk when vandalizing a car that it literally covered in cameras.
This week, the Biden administration finalized a rule that effectively bans connected vehicles from China. So naturally some of us were wondering how that would affect Waymo’s next-gen robotaxis, which are built by Zeekr in China. Now that it’s had a few days to review the rule, Waymo assures us that everything’s cool.
“Waymo filed comments in support of the rule last fall, and we appreciate the Department’s prompt rulemaking,” spokesperson Ethan Teicher told me. “We do not anticipate the final rule will impact our use of the Zeekr platform.”
