Latest news with #Waymo
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Driverless disruption: Tech titans gird for robotaxi wars with new factory and territories
As three key players vie for dominance, the race to put driverless taxis on roads across the country is heating up. Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, already offers paid autonomous rides in a handful of cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. Amazon's robotaxi effort, known as Zoox, opened a new production facility in the Bay Area this week. The company has been testing its unique pill-shaped vehicles in California and Nevada since 2023. Meanwhile, in Austin, Texas, Elon Musk just started testing driverless Teslas with the hopes of launching a commercial service soon. Musk unveiled a prototype for Tesla's Cybercab late last year, touting his vision for an autonomous future and "an age of abundance." Read more: Tesla makes step toward robotaxi services in California. What to know The arrival of self-driving tech could eventually affect society as much as the internet and smartphones did years ago, some experts predict. With Waymo leading the way and Tesla and Zoox trying to catch up quickly, a new status quo could be on the horizon, said Karl Brauer, an analyst with 'Tesla has tried to catch up, and Zoox is a more recent competitor that's hoping to be a serious player,' he said. 'Waymo has been slow and steady and, as a result, is winning the race.' According to some industry insiders, the U.S. is about 15 years from seeing widespread use of robotaxis, Brauer said. While Waymo taxis have become a common sight in the cities where they operate, weather conditions and charging infrastructure still limit their expansion. On Wednesday, Waymo expanded its service area in Los Angeles County, where its vehicles now roam an area of more than 120 square miles. The company also increased its service area in San Francisco, expanding access to suburbs and Silicon Valley. Read more: Waymo expands service area in Los Angeles and San Francisco Days after Waymo's announcement, Zoox opened a 220,000-square-foot facility in Hayward, Calif., that the company says will be able to produce 10,000 robotaxis per year. Zoox is preparing to launch its public ride-hailing service in Las Vegas and San Francisco this year. Unlike Waymo vehicles, which are retrofitted Jaguars, Zoox is developing a purpose-built taxi with no steering wheel or gas pedals. Zoox also has a manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif., where the company develops its test fleets of retrofitted Toyota Highlanders. Tesla has a manufacturing facility in Fremont as well. Musk has promised for years to deliver autonomous vehicles and a robust ride-hailing service. Lawmakers in Austin requested this week that he delay the rollout of his service in the city. Read more: Zoox's pill-shaped robotaxis become latest self-driving cars to hit California's streets Tesla, Zoox and Waymo are the three remaining major U.S. companies in what was once a more crowded field, Brauer said. General Motors' autonomous taxi company Cruise suspended operations in 2023 after one of its vehicles struck and dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco. Last year, Uber and Cruise announced a partnership that could put Cruise vehicles back on the road. A company called Argo AI, backed by Ford and Volkswagen, was also developing driverless technology until it shut down in 2022. The continued expansion of robotaxis depends on safe and successful testing, Brauer said. There have been several incidents related to Tesla's Full Self-Drive mode, a technology currently available but still in development. Waymo has issued recalls of some of its vehicles on multiple occasions. 'If there's a tragic result for any of these three companies during the testing and development process, it would likely slow down the entire industry,' Brauer said. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
8 hours ago
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
Driverless disruption: Tech titans gird for robotaxi wars with new factory and territories
As three key players vie for dominance, the race to put driverless taxis on roads across the country is heating up. Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, already offers paid autonomous rides in a handful of cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. Amazon's robotaxi effort, known as Zoox, opened a new production facility in the Bay Area this week. The company has been testing its unique pill-shaped vehicles in California and Nevada since 2023. Meanwhile, in Austin, Texas, Elon Musk just started testing driverless Teslas with the hopes of launching a commercial service soon. Musk unveiled a prototype for Tesla's Cybercab late last year, touting his vision for an autonomous future and 'an age of abundance.' The arrival of self-driving tech could eventually affect society as much as the internet and smartphones did years ago, some experts predict. With Waymo leading the way and Tesla and Zoox trying to catch up quickly, a new status quo could be on the horizon, said Karl Brauer, an analyst with 'Tesla has tried to catch up, and Zoox is a more recent competitor that's hoping to be a serious player,' he said. 'Waymo has been slow and steady and, as a result, is winning the race.' According to some industry insiders, the U.S. is about 15 years from seeing widespread use of robotaxis, Brauer said. While Waymo taxis have become a common sight in the cities where they operate, weather conditions and charging infrastructure still limit their expansion. On Wednesday, Waymo expanded its service area in Los Angeles County, where its vehicles now roam an area of more than 120 square miles. The company also increased its service area in San Francisco, expanding access to suburbs and Silicon Valley. Days after Waymo's announcement, Zoox opened a 220,000-square-foot facility in Hayward, Calif., that the company says will be able to produce 10,000 robotaxis per year. Zoox is preparing to launch its public ride-hailing service in Las Vegas and San Francisco this year. Unlike Waymo vehicles, which are retrofitted Jaguars, Zoox is developing a purpose-built taxi with no steering wheel or gas pedals. Zoox also has a manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif., where the company develops its test fleets of retrofitted Toyota Highlanders. Tesla has a manufacturing facility in Fremont as well. Musk has promised for years to deliver autonomous vehicles and a robust ride-hailing service. Lawmakers in Austin requested this week that he delay the rollout of his service in the city. Tesla, Zoox and Waymo are the three remaining major U.S. companies in what was once a more crowded field, Brauer said. General Motors' autonomous taxi company Cruise suspended operations in 2023 after one of its vehicles struck and dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco. Last year, Uber and Cruise announced a partnership that could put Cruise vehicles back on the road. A company called Argo AI, backed by Ford and Volkswagen, was also developing driverless technology until it shut down in 2022. The continued expansion of robotaxis depends on safe and successful testing, Brauer said. There have been several incidents related to Tesla's Full Self-Drive mode, a technology currently available but still in development. Waymo has issued recalls of some of its vehicles on multiple occasions. 'If there's a tragic result for any of these three companies during the testing and development process, it would likely slow down the entire industry,' Brauer said.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- Business Standard
Tesla joins Austin's self-driving race with launch of Robotaxi service
Austin is known for live music, Texas' premier public university and being home to tech companies. It is also becoming a laboratory for autonomous vehicles. Driverless Waymo taxis, owned by Google's parent company, regularly drop off diners at Austin's famous barbecue joints. Box-shaped, four-wheeled robots operated by Avride, a start-up working with Uber Eats, deliver Thai takeout to customers downtown. Zoox, owned by Amazon, and Volkswagen are separately testing autonomous taxis here. Tesla, the electric car company based in Austin, recently joined the party, rolling out self-driving Model Ys ahead of a taxi service that is expected to begin offering rides as soon as Sunday. The vehicles, which the company calls Robotaxis, are part of an audacious effort by Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive, to leap ahead of Waymo, which dominates a nascent business that someday could be worth tens of billions of dollars and perhaps much more. But the busy streets of Austin show that Tesla will face significant competition and other challenges. It will have to engage in painstaking experimentation to perfect its technology, which some autonomous-driving experts have criticised for having fewer safeguards than those operated by Waymo and other companies. Also, Tesla is starting from behind. Waymo has been driving paying passengers for years in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and started its commercial service in Austin in March in partnership with Uber. Waymo said on Wednesday that it was applying for a permit from New York City to offer rides with a person behind the wheel. A change in state law would be required for fully autonomous rides. A small fleet of Tesla Robotaxis will begin carrying passengers in Austin on June 22, Musk said on X last week but added the company may delay the start of the service. But analysts expect the cars will be available only to company employees or invited guests. The service will probably not be available to the general public for several months, analysts said. Tesla is adapting its most advanced driver assistance software, already offered as an option on the cars it sells, to operate without human intervention. If this approach works, the company could quickly roll out driverless taxis around the world. Musk has said a software update could allow hundreds of thousands or even millions of existing Teslas to operate as autonomous taxis, making cheap driverless rides ubiquitous. But the approach Tesla is taking is unusual. Waymo and other companies working to offer self-driving taxi services have been developing their technologies for years, painstakingly mapping streets and training their software to avoid hitting pedestrians, cyclists, garbage trucks, fire engines and all manner of other things found on public roads. 'FSD is an immature system,' said Matthew Wansley, a professor at Cardozo School of Law in New York, referring to what Tesla calls its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Another challenge for Tesla is that its self-driving system is under investigation by federal officials. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into whether Tesla's technology was responsible for crashes in conditions where the road was obscured by fog, dust, bright light or darkness. One crash led to the death of a pedestrian.
Business Insider
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- Business Insider
Local lawmakers are trying to delay Tesla's robotaxi launch in Austin
Tesla's highly anticipated June 22 Austin rollout of its highly anticipated robotaxi could have hit a roadblock. On Wednesday, seven lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives and Senate signed a letter requesting Tesla to delay its robotaxi launch until new autonomous driving regulations are scheduled to go into effect on September 1. The new regulations would require autonomous cars to be registered under Texas law, meet certain safety and vehicle standards, and also be "capable of achieving a minimal risk condition if the automated driving system is rendered inoperable." Business Insider reached out to Tesla for comment. The regulations would also require companies operating autonomous vehicles to provide a First Responder Interaction Plan to the Department of Public Safety detailing how emergency personnel should interact with driverless vehicles. However, Tesla can still proceed with the June 22 launch if it "respond(s) to this letter with detailed information demonstrating that Tesla will be compliant with the new law upon the launch of driverless operations in Austin," the lawmakers wrote. Representative Vikki Goodwin, one of the letter's authors, expressed concern about Tesla's self-driving safety measures. "I don't know that it is ready to be launched," Goodwin said of Tesla robotaxis on CBS Austin on Wednesday. There is more work that needs to be done before they let them loose on the streets," Goodwin added. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the company has been testing its full self-driving cars on the streets of Austin over the last month. On June 10, a driverless Tesla Model Y was spotted on public roads in Austin. In May, Musk announced plans to launch thousands of Tesla robotaxis in Austin, with future plans to expand to cities like San Francisco. However, in a safety test conducted by The Dawn Project, a group that has been historically critical of Tesla's self-driving tech, a Tesla Model Y with Full Self-Driving engaged failed to stop in the presence of a school bus stop sign and child-sized dummy, raising concerns about the technology's safety. Musk himself did anticipate potential delays in the Tesla robotaxi launch. "We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift," Musk wrote on X on June 10. But the robotaxi launch is an especially important event that could boost investor confidence in Tesla's ability to compete in the crowded autonomous vehicle space. Texas has few existing regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles, making it an attractive hub for self-driving technology. If the launch moves forward, Tesla's robotaxi will be traveling on Austin 's streets along with Google's Waymo, Amazon's Zoox, and ventures funded by automakers VW and Hyundai. Waymo has been offering autonomous ride-hailing services in the city since March in partnership with Uber.
The Independent
13 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Independent
New York City could soon get Waymo self-driving cars
Waymo, an Alphabet subsidiary, is seeking a permit to operate self-driving cars in Manhattan with a trained specialist behind the wheel. The current operation in New York City is a test phase, not yet serving customers, as fully autonomous operation without a driver is currently illegal in the state. Waymo aims to eventually bring its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to New York, while the city's transportation office reviews the permit with public safety as a priority. Waymo's self-driving cars are already active in several cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin, with plans for further expansion. Separately, Elon Musk's Tesla is preparing to launch its own robotaxi service in Austin, starting with a limited number of vehicles and emphasizing safety.
