Tesla Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Robotaxi ambitions face yet another challenge as Alphabet Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) autonomous vehicle company Waymo announced the expansion of its self-driving cabs on highways in multiple cities.
Waymo To Operate On Highways In California, Arizona
In a blog post published by the company on Wednesday, Waymo announced that it was expanding its service to operate on highways in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles in California.
Waymo announced it will operate in the entire peninsula area spanning from “San Francisco all the way down to San Jose, including curbside service at San Jose Mineta International Airport.”
It’s worth noting that Waymo will operate the service on freeways without the presence of an onboard safety driver. “Sign up today to be among the first to access Waymo freeway trips,” the company said.
Tesla’s Robotaxi Expansion
The news comes as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, during the company’s third-quarter earnings call last month, said that Robotaxis — powered by a camera-based system rather than LiDAR sensors — in Austin, Texas, will go driverless by the end of the year. Tesla currently offers Robotaxis in the city, including its highways, with an onboard safety operator.
Musk had also claimed that the company would now target expanding into 8-10 major cities across the U.S., backtracking from his earlier promise of serving over 50% of the U.S. population with Robotaxis.
Tekedra Mawakana Reiterates Transparency, Apollo Go Reaches 250K Rides Per Week
Meanwhile, Waymo CEO Tekedra Mawakana reiterated the importance of maintaining transparency to ensure better safety on the roads. “It is my view that you [the companies] are not doing what’s necessary to earn the right to make the roads safer,” Mawakana had said.
Elsewhere, Chinese tech company Baidu Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:BIDU) Robotaxi service Apollo Go recently announced it reached the 250,000 autonomous rides per week milestone. The company announced it has clocked over 140 million driverless miles.
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