Alphabet's self-driving division Waymo has applied to test driverless autonomous cars on California roads, the company has confirmed. The application was submitted earlier this week with the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Assuming sources expanding on the matter are correct, Waymo plans to start its testing in Mountain View and expand into the Bay Area later on.
Waymo may not be charging for its autonomous car trials right now, but the company knows that it'll need something more special than a minivan when the digital driver wants paying. Witness, therefore, the news today that Waymo and Jaguar will collaborate to turn the new I-PACE all-electric SUV into the latest self-driving chariot.
Waymo just re-introduced the Jaguar I-Pace SUV, what they call the world's first premium electric self-driving car. Waymo and Jaguar Land Rover are in the mix together on this, bringing this vehicle to the self-driving world of cars - for testing - later this year. With this partnership, in the first 2-years of production, the company will be able to create 20k more vehicles for their self-driving fleet.
Waymo has shared video of the first experiences of early riders in its self-driving cars, and anybody hoping for horror or white-knuckle excitement will probably find the whole thing fairly anticlimactic. The Alphabet-owned company, spun out of Google's driverless car research, began trials in Arizona last year, but it's only recently that the state has allowed Waymo to do away with the safety driver altogether.
Thus far, Waymo seems to have focused mostly on applying its self-driving technology to the ride-hailing market. Waymo sees a future where consumers can summon a lift from its fleet of driverless cars, and it has been carrying out testing related to such a service. While creating driverless taxis is still one Waymo's main goals, today we're seeing the company branch out to something a little different: Semi trucks.
Strap on your VR headsets and prepare to let Waymo take the wheel. Few of us will get to hitch a ride in Waymo's self-driving minivans - at least, not for some time yet - but you can get a taste of how it feels to be chauffeured by a robot with a new Waymo 360-degree experience.
Uber has conceded to allowing an independent audit on its autonomous car technology, it's reported, as part of its lawsuit settlement with Waymo. The two companies reached an agreement to end the lawsuit today, having spent already several days in court. Uber will avoid a jury verdict as a result, but there were apparently fierce wranglings over just what the ride-sharing firm was willing to allow.
Uber v. Waymo has been settled, with Uber ending its autonomous car rival's lawsuit by coughing up an equity stake as mea culpa. The case had already begun to be heard in court this week, with Alphabet-owned Waymo alleging that Uber had misappropriated driverless car tech secrets when it brought a former Google engineer onboard to lead its autonomous vehicle team.
"Uber is cheating" is the simple reason Waymo has spent the past twelve months suing its autonomous car rival, Waymo lawyer Charles Verhoevan told the court as the much-anticipated case ends day one in California. Alphabet-owned Waymo, the self-driving car company spun out of Google's X moonshot division, filed suit against ride-sharing firm Uber in February 2017. Today, its legal team had its first moment in the courtroom.
Waymo plans to launch its autonomous ride-hailing service this year. Waymo and Chrysler announced that thousands of Pacifica autonomous vans would be used for the autonomous service. Waymo is talking up its accelerated pace of testing ahead of the official launch of the service.
Self-driving car company Waymo and automaker Fiat Chrysler automobiles have announced that they are expanding their partnership. The new deal will see FCA providing Waymo with thousands of Pacifica hybrid minivans. These new vans will be used as Alphabet begins to roll out its public ride-haling service later this year.
Waymo has brought its latest self-driving minivans to San Francisco, expanding its test fleet of fully driverless cars from Arizona. The Alphabet owned company, formerly a Google division, has been operating a closed beta of its ride-sharing service in Phoenix, AZ, since early 2017, having adopted Chrysler Pacifica minivans as its vehicle of choice.