Waymo
Waymo One (Jaguar I-PACE) · USA · Founded2009
Waymo is the global leader in autonomous driving technology and a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google's parent company. Originally launched in 2009 as the Google Self-Driving Car Project under Sebastian Thrun, the initiative was one of the earliest serious efforts to build a fully self-driving vehicle. The project was spun out as a standalone company called Waymo in 2016, and has since accumulated more autonomous driving miles than any other company in the world.
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About Waymo
The company's commercial robotaxi service, Waymo One, operates a fleet of custom-equipped Jaguar I-PACE vehicles across Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. Waymo One provides fully driverless rides to the public without a safety driver behind the wheel, making it the most widely deployed commercial robotaxi service in the United States. The company consistently completes over 150,000 paid trips per week across its service areas.
Waymo's autonomous driving system, known as the Waymo Driver, is now in its fifth generation and uses a combination of lidar, cameras, and radar sensors to perceive the environment. The company has invested heavily in simulation, running billions of miles of virtual testing each year to complement its on-road experience. Waymo has also partnered with automakers including Geely (Zeekr) for its next-generation vehicle platform.
Under the leadership of co-CEOs Tekedra Manalich and Dmitri Dolgov, Waymo continues to expand its geographic footprint and ride volume. The company announced expansions to Austin and Atlanta in 2025, with additional cities planned. Waymo is widely regarded by industry analysts as the most mature autonomous driving operation in the world, setting the benchmark for safety and reliability in the robotaxi sector.
Founders: Sebastian Thrun
Headquarters: Mountain View, California
Latest Update
Operating commercial robotaxi services in four US cities with over 150,000 weekly trips. Expanded to Austin and Atlanta in 2025.
Key Milestone
Over 50 million fully autonomous miles driven across Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin
Vehicles and Products
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I ride a Waymo robotaxi today?
Waymo One is commercially available in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. The company expanded to Austin and Atlanta in 2025, with plans to add more cities. Riders can hail a Waymo through the Waymo One app, similar to how they would use a traditional ride-hailing service.
Does Waymo use lidar or camera-only technology?
Waymo uses a multi-sensor approach combining lidar, cameras, and radar. This differs from camera-only approaches used by some competitors. Waymo argues that lidar provides precise 3D depth information that improves safety, especially in challenging conditions like nighttime driving or heavy rain.
Who owns Waymo?
Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google. It started as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009 and was reorganized as a standalone Alphabet subsidiary in 2016. Alphabet has invested billions of dollars in the project over its history.
How safe is Waymo compared to human drivers?
Waymo has published safety data showing its autonomous vehicles are involved in significantly fewer injury-causing crashes per mile compared to human drivers. A 2023 study covering over 7 million miles of rider-only driving in Phoenix and San Francisco found that the Waymo Driver reduced injury-causing crash rates by 85 percent compared to the human benchmark.
Sources
- Waymo Official Website - accessed 2026-03-28
- Waymo Safety Record and Methodology - accessed 2026-03-28
- Waymo One Expansion Announcements - accessed 2026-03-28
- Alphabet Investor Relations - Waymo Updates - accessed 2026-03-28