Waymo

Three weeks after one of Waymo's autonomous vehicles drove itself into a telephone pole for no apparent reason whatsoever (prompting 672 cars recalled), Waymo has released a statement saying its AVs are still 200 to 350% better at avoiding crashes than humans.

Alphabet subsidiary Waymo has unveiled an electric vehicle designed from the ground up with autonomous ride-hailing in mind. The B-pillarless minivan design drops the steering wheel and pedals altogether, leaving more interior room for the passengers.

Alphabet-owned Waymo is looking to gain a strong foothold in the nascent autonomous freight industry, today announcing plans to build a dedicated hub for its self-driving trucks in the state of Texas.

At launch, the Waymo One app-based robotaxi service had a trained vehicle operator assigned to every vehicle, ready to take over if needed. Now Waymo is ditching the safety driver and opening up a fully driverless service to the public in Phoenix.

Through its years-long partnership with Waymo, Fiat Chrysler (FCA) has taken an active role in the development of self-driving technology, and is now expanding the scope of its efforts to include vehicles of a slightly larger footprint.

Waymo already has a number of partnerships in place with household names like Walmart and Jaguar. It can now add Volvo to that list, with the two forming an agreement to develop electric vehicles that can drive autonomously.

With an eye toward the future of self-driving cars with next-level safety and reliability, Waymo has introduced its fifth-generation system for autonomous vehicles that promises a more comprehensive understanding of the vehicle’s surroundings.

​Waymo began inviting folks in Phoenix to ride its autonomous cars in April 2017, a few months after the new Alphabet company was formed to commercialize the technology. Now Waymo One has officially launched, a commercial endeavor aimed at getting more of the public on board.​

​Waymo (Google before it) has now clocked up over 10 million autonomous miles on public roads in 25 cities. Last year, Phoenix, Arizona, became the first to set its self-driving cars free of human back up by allowing a public trial of fully driverless vehicles. Now California has joined the party.​

As Waymo’s self-driving vehicles continue to clock up the miles, the company is focusing its trips based on feedback from the first year of its early riders program in Phoenix, Arizona. As well as expanding existing partnerships, Waymo has now teamed up with Walmart and DDR to streamline shopping.

​While Uber's self driving ambitions have hit a bit of a roadblock, others are pressing ahead with efforts to get autonomous vehicles into action. Waymo has teamed up with Jaguar Land Rover to put 20,000 newly designed self-driving cars on the road over the next few years.

​Waymo has clocked up millions of self-driving miles since starting Google's autonomous vehicle project in 2009, celebrating 5 million of them by releasing a 360-degree video to demonstrate how its cars see the world around them. Now the company is shifting gear by moving into cargo hauling.​