Both Waymo and Cruise have been operating in San Francisco for a while. Since they launched, both companies have been offering free rides in the area to people willing to get driven around in an autonomous taxi. However, it would appear both companies are now looking to start making money off of their autonomous fleets.
Autonomous vehicles have come a long way in the last several years, but every now and then, something pops up showing they have a way to go. A YouTuber called "JJRicks Studios" has been making videos of his rides using the Waymo autonomous taxi service in Chandler, Arizona, since it's been available. Those who don't live in areas served by the autonomous taxis can watch fully autonomous rides and rides with a safety driver behind the wheel through his videos.
Waymo's CEO is stepping down, Alphabet's autonomous car company has confirmed, with John Krafcik handing over the digital reins to the driverless vehicles to two new co-CEO instead. Dmitri Dolgov and Tekedra Mawakana - currently Waymo's COO and CTO - will both be responsible for Waymo moving forward, as the company considers how best to expand its robotaxi ride-hailing service.
Waymo is tackling the safety issue of autonomous vehicles head-on, using simulations to replay fatal crashes but replacing the human driver involved with the Alphabet company's software, to show what the Waymo Driver would've done differently. The research looked at every fatal accident recorded in Chandler, Arizona - where the Waymo One driverless car-hailing service currently operates - between 2008 and 2017.
One of the many companies working on getting autonomous automobiles on the roads in California is Waymo. The company has been testing autonomous cars in the San Francisco Bay Area since early 2009. That year, Waymo completed its first 1000 autonomous miles within the state.
Waymo is drawing a line in the sand for driverless terminology, announcing today that it will no longer refer to its vehicles as "self-driving" and arguing that the industry needs more consistency in how it refers to cars that can operate themselves. Though the language change may seem slight, the Alphabet-owned company concedes, it's actually key to making sure human drivers know just what is and isn't required from them in future vehicles.
Waymo is opening two new autonomous vehicle facilities, including a dense urban playground for its self-driving passenger cars as they refine their human-replacing technology. The Alphabet-owned company, spun out from Google's labs, currently operates a ride-hailing program in Phoenix, AZ, Waymo One, but has visions of far broader applications for driverless cars and trucks.
Waymo and Daimler Trucks are teaming up on autonomous haulage, aiming to build and sell a production self-driving truck in the US. The collaboration will see Waymo contribute the driverless tech that is powering its Waymo One autonomous ride-hailing program, which recently came out of closed beta in Phoenix, Arizona.
Waymo's driverless taxi service is opening up to the public, exiting beta in Phoenix, AZ and allowing Waymo One members to book the autonomous minivans. The Waymo Driver, as the Alphabet company describes its self-driving tech, has until now been providing rides for a small subset of Waymo One users, and Waymo has been careful to prevent those riders from talking about the experience.
Waymo and Chrysler have been working together since 2016 to create autonomous vehicles. One of the vehicles resulting from that partnership is the L4-ready Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan. Waymo has announced that it and Chrysler are strengthening their partnership in several essential ways.
Waymo and Volvo Car Group announced an expanded partnership that is intended to create a collaboration enabling easy integration of vehicles with the Waymo Driver. The integration will make the vehicles well-suited to ride-hailing, local delivery, tracking, and personal car ownership. Waymo is now the exclusive global L4 partner for the Volvo Car Group.
Waymo has thrown open its latest self-driving car data set, inviting autonomous vehicle researchers to take part in a set of competitions based on the plentiful data gathered by its driverless fleet. The Waymo Open Dataset Challenges comes as the Google spin-off adds 800 new segments to its multi-sensor dataset, and it could come as a good distraction if you're stuck at home because of coronavirus self-isolation.