Waymo launches robot taxi service in five more US cities
Robotaxi services from Waymo that are entirely driverless are already in operation across several cities in the US. The company, originally called Google Self-Driving Car Project, is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company. Just earlier this month, Waymo announced that it will launch in Detroit, Las Vegas and San Diego in 2026, while the company is expanding across the Atlantic to provide services in London. New services are also being added across freeways in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Services using freeways have also been announced for Austin and Atlanta.
When Waymo enters a new service in a new area, the company follows the same protocol. Driving performances are compared against a proven baseline to validate performance and to identify unique local characteristics. The company says it then refines the Waymo Driver’s AI to navigate local nuances. Constant improvements are implemented through regular software releases.
The announced robot taxi service has now commenced operations in Miami. The cities of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando are to follow in the coming weeks. These new cities will join new services in Detroit, Las Vegas and San Diego next year, and launches in Dallas, Denver, Miami, Nashville, and Washington D.C. Services have already been established in the US cities of Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta, where Waymo already operates 250,000 autonomous trips per week.
The company’s expanding services are being financed by a $5.6 billion investment from Google’s parent company, Alphabet, made in 2024.
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