Alphabet's autonomous vehicle unit, Waymo, announced it now provides 150,000 paid rides weekly through its Waymo One service, surpassing one million miles driven autonomously. The company emphasized that the future of transportation is here and growing, with passengers safely reaching their destinations regularly.
Back in August, Waymo confirmed it was offering over 100,000 rides weekly. Chief Product Officer Saswat Panigrahi attributed this achievement to intentional scaling, cost optimization, and a robust consumer experience. Panigrahi highlighted the importance of Waymo's approach to designing hardware and software from scratch, crucial for early successes. This method continues to drive progress as the company rolls out its sixth-generation hardware.
The autonomous taxi industry has seen significant developments recently. Notably, Tesla held its highly anticipated Robotaxi event, and autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai filed for an IPO on NASDAQ. The race to develop and deploy driverless taxis includes a variety of players ranging from Tesla and Waymo to Amazon's Zoox, May Mobility, General Motors' Cruise, AutoX, Aurora Innovation, and the Motional joint venture between Aptiv and Hyundai.
