Shares in Alphabet (GOOGL) edged forward today as it gets set to launch its Waymo robotaxi service in three new U.S. cities, including the fabled Motor City itself.
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Waymo said that from next year it would start offering its services in San Diego, Las Vegas and Detroit, though some potential roadblocks lie ahead.
Regulatory Barriers
It added that the Las Vegas service would begin next summer, while in San Diego, it is working with local officials and first responders to secure deployment permits.
In Detroit, the company said its winter-weather testing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has strengthened its ability to operate year-round, where it has long maintained engineering operations. However, it wasn’t clear when services would begin there.
According to the Verge, Waymo is licensed for autonomous ridehailing in California, but will still need to obtain approval in Nevada and Michigan before it can operate fully driverless cars in a commercial capacity. It will also need a Transportation Network Company permit in Michigan, and testing approval from both Nevada’s DMV and the state’s transportation authority for commercial operations.
“We’ll follow our safety framework and serve riders in these cities when we’ve properly validated our technology and obtained the necessary permissions, with the intention to open our doors to riders next year,” said Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp.
Global Push
The company currently operates in five cities: San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. It has also said it wants to launch in Boston, Seattle, Denver, Miami, New York City, and Washington, DC.
In addition, the Alphabet unit will also start driving its new Zeekr-built vehicles this week, alongside its existing Jaguar I-PACE fleet. The Zeekr, developed with Chinese automaker Geely, is designed specifically for robotaxi use cases and will be rolled out gradually as the company expands its service.
Last month it said it was bringing its self-driving cars to London. It will start testing its electric Jaguar iPACE cars on public roads soon, with safety drivers behind the wheel. The ride-hailing service is set to open in 2026, pending approval from regulators in the United Kingdom.
This marked its first expansion into Europe and is its second international market after Tokyo.
Alphabet reports Waymo’s results under its “Other Bets” unit, which brought in $373 million in revenue last quarter but posted a $1.25 billion loss. It faces stiff competition in the world of robotaxis from Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) and Amazon’s (AMZN) Zoox.
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