Waymo

Waymo is the autonomous driving subsidiary of Alphabet (Google's parent company), widely regarded as the leader in autonomous vehicle technology. Originally started as Google's self-driving car project in 2009, Waymo was spun out as a separate company in 2016 and has accumulated more autonomous driving miles than any other company.

Waymo One, the company's commercial robotaxi service, operates fully driverless vehicles across fourteen US metros: Phoenix (since 2020), the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Miami, Orlando, Nashville, Denver, San Diego and Tampa — the last three opening to public riders on September 1, 2026. More cities are announced but not yet carrying public riders, among them Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington, plus London and Tokyo — the company's first markets outside the United States. The vehicles use a sensor suite including lidar, cameras, and radar, processed by Waymo's AI Driver — a sophisticated AI system that handles perception, prediction, and planning in real-time urban driving environments. Waymo has completed millions of fully autonomous rides.

The 2026 expansion has been the steepest in the company's history, and Dallas shows the playbook: a February commercial launch limited to an interest list, nearly 150,000 riders served that way, then the waitlist removed in August 2026 so anyone with the app can hail a car. Fully autonomous testing is running at Love Field Airport, with freeway testing the last step before highway routes open to public riders. The vehicles use a sensor suite including lidar, cameras, and radar, processed by Waymo's AI Driver — a sophisticated AI system that handles perception, prediction, and planning in real-time urban driving environments. Waymo has completed millions of fully autonomous rides.

Waymo represents the most advanced deployment of autonomous driving AI in the world. The company's decade-plus of development and real-world data collection gives it a significant lead over competitors, though the path to profitability at scale remains a challenge. Alphabet's willingness to fund Waymo through years of development reflects the enormous potential of autonomous transportation — and the company's technology continues to improve as its fleet grows and accumulates more driving data.