Waymo is picking up speed as the robotaxi race heats up

By William Gavin

Waymo has a reputation for moving deliberately in its autonomous-driving rollout. Now the company is leveraging its years of experience to expand more quickly.

Waymo plans to expand its self-driving taxi service to at least five more states in the coming months.

Waymo has led the way in the rollout of autonomous ride-hailing services - while also taking its time to progress between milestones. Now the company is getting more aggressive with its expansion.

On Wednesday, Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Waymo said it intends to let consumers hail autonomous cars in London next year through a collaboration with Moove, which handles its fleet operations. In the coming weeks, Waymo plans to begin testing all-electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles equipped with its self-driving technology.

"We've demonstrated how to responsibly scale fully autonomous ride-hailing, and we can't wait to expand the benefits of our technology to the United Kingdom," said Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana.

Waymo has focused on a slow-and-steady approach to scaling its business, which began in 2009. Before expanding into new cities, it tests its technology on closed roads or virtual simulators, as well as with safety drivers. Then it begins driverless testing and finally offers its services to the general public.

All that can take some time. Waymo launched its first public trial of an autonomous-taxi service in Phoenix in 2017, but it wasn't until 2020 that the company started offering paid driverless services to the public.

Now Waymo says its experience serving the five major U.S. cities it currently operates in - Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin, Texas - as well as its recent testing in Tokyo, will let it move faster. Waymo now conducts some 250,000 paid rides each week, and its cars have driven more than 100 million autonomous miles, according to the company.

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In addition to London, Waymo is working to move into at least five additional U.S. cities in 2026, including Washington, D.C., and Nashville. It also has a testing permit in New York City and has begun tests in Colorado and Washington state.

But those plans pale in comparison to Elon Musk's ambitions. During a July earnings call, Musk told investors he expects that half of the U.S. population - about 171 million people - will be covered by Tesla Inc.'s (TSLA) robotaxi service by the end of 2025.

Tesla launched its first robotaxi service in July and offers rides in its hometown of Austin and in the San Francisco Bay Area, although a safety rider is present. The electric-vehicle maker has also been granted testing permits in Nevada and Arizona and is seeking permission in Florida and hiring vehicle testers in several other states.

Morningstar analysts expect a fully driverless service could launch in 2028, noting that Tesla's approach should allow it to grow faster than rivals. The company relies on cameras to capture images that its artificial intelligence translates into driving decisions.

"Once we can make it basically work in a few cities in America, we can make it work anywhere in America," Musk said in April, dismissing Waymo's approach as "fragile" and "limited."

Read: Tesla made a gamble with its latest price cuts. Will it pay off?

-William Gavin

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10-15-25 1528ET