Waymo

Under SB 1246, which goes into effect in July 2028, robotaxi operators will face fines of up to $10,000 for each autonomous vehicle that blocks emergency responders for more than 30 minutes.

The company first introduced teen accounts in Phoenix last year, in which riders aged 13-17 can sign up to use the Waymo ridehail app. Now that opportunity is coming to Nashville, where Waymo first started offering rides to the broader public this summer. Teen accounts have to be linked to a parent or guardian, but approved teens will be allowed to ride independently without an adult. The teenagers that got early access were excited about the independence — and the ability to blast their own music. Here’s Nashville teen Asher Huffman, in a quote provided by Waymo:

The robotaxi company is partnering with taxi operator Nihon Kotsu and ride hailing app GO to offer on demand, 24/7 self-driving rides through both the Waymo and GO apps in 2027. Waymo has been testing its vehicles in Tokyo since 2025, but this is the first time it’s put an official date on the launch of its commercial robotaxi service. The company is eyeing additional overseas markets, including London and Munich.

Lyft customers hailing a ride in Waymo’s service area (which includes Downtown/Broadway, North Nashville/Germantown, East Nashville, Midtown, and South Nashville) could be matched with a robotaxi. Waymo and Lyft first announced they’d be teaming up for a robotaxi service in Music City nearly a year ago. Lyft is also handling fleet services, such as cleaning, maintenance, and EV charging, through its Flexdrive subsidiary. Customers who would prefer a robotaxi ride can also book one through Waymo’s own app.

The robotaxi company has accrued more than 8,300 violations in San Francisco since January 2025, according to records obtained by Gazetteer. On average, that’s about 103 tickets a week. Most of the violations appear to be for parking in locations reserved for tour buses, obstructing traffic, or blocking bike lanes.

Scratch that: who leaves two pig heads in the back of a Waymo? Throw-up, leftover joints, even the occasional doo-doo — I can understand how some of these things can be left behind for the robotaxi cleaner. But pig heads?

The robotaxi company said today that it will start accepting its first public riders in three new cities. Customers will be invited to ride on a rolling basis before the service is opened up to everyone. The announcement marks Waymo’s first public rides in the new state of Colorado. And the company says it now has over 4,000 vehicles in its commercial fleet across 14 cities. Here are the service area maps for all three cities.

Hat tip to investor Reilly Brennan, who noted in his Future of Transportation newsletter that Waymo software engineer Reed Morse has been beefing with Tesla fans on X over sensors and service area maps. Morse said Tesla is “mostly bluffing” its way through its upcoming Cybercab launch. It’s just more evidence that despite being the undisputed leader in driverless robotaxis, Waymo still feels the need to point out the fallacies in Tesla’s approach to robotaxis.

Waymo announced today that it will launch a robotaxi service in Munich by the end of 2027, marking the latest international market for the autonomous vehicle operator. The company is also eyeing London and Tokyo for future service. It remains to be seen whether overseas regulators will be more welcoming than some US cities?

Nevada’s transportation authority unanimously approved permits for Tesla, Waymo, and Uber, paving the way for up 7,000 robotaxis to flood the streets of Clark County over the next 12 months, TechCrunch reports. Tesla received approval for 5,000 robotaxis — though the company’s reps said they’d be thrilled if they get to 2,500 — while Waymo and Uber were authorized for 1,000 each. Amazon’s Zoox already has a permit for 100 robotaxis in the city. The vote positions Las Vegas as the next major robotaxi market, with Amazon, Uber, Waymo, and Tesla all battling for customers.

The Zeekr RT minivan, which has been rebranded as Ojai, is now available to all riders in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles (after launching to select passengers last May). The company plans on bringing the egg-shaped shuttle to Denver, San Diego, and Las Vegas as its next cities before the end of the year.

Waymo has received regulatory approval in the state to “expand” its autonomous ride-hailing service “across the SF Bay Area and LA” and bring it to Sacramento and San Diego, the company said on Friday. The approved expansion covers “most of the state’s population,” Electrek reports.

According to local reports, the man was crossing the street outside a crosswalk in Dallas when he was hit by an SUV driver, causing him to be thrown into a driverless Waymo vehicles. On the surface, the crash sounds similar to one that eventually took down Cruise’s robotaxi business. In that instance, the Cruise vehicle failed to immediately pull, dragging the person for 20 feet. In this case, the victim struck the left rear of the Waymo vehicle.

After suspending freeway routes in May because of safety concerns in construction zones, Waymo announced that freeway routes coming back in Phoenix and “soon” in Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco.

Using the in-car screens, you can access Gemini for things like changing the temperature in your Waymo or getting a recommendation for a good coffee shop, Waymo says. The feature is in beta, and Gemini operates “independently from the Waymo Driver.”

Bloomberg has the details on some of the gnarlier aspects of a driverless car service, including finding blood, puke, and fecal matter in the vehicles. Emergency responders have received almost 100 calls about passengers falling asleep in their Waymos, and then failing to wake up at their destination. This story reminds me of one I helped report nearly six years ago about Waymo contractors discovering hypodermic needles in the cars. The more things change…

Both ABC7 and KTLA 5 report that on Saturday afternoon, police arrested this man for vandalism after he was seen smashing up a Waymo at an East Hollywood intersection on Saturday.

Two teenagers who were drinking alcohol and shooting a toy gun out the window of their Waymo were arrested last week after being tricked by a remote operator into thinking the vehicle had mechanical problems.

The company is ramping up testing in San Diego, Las Vegas, Tampa, and Denver with the introduction of rider-only operations. Only Waymo employees will get to ride in the vehicles for now, but the company says it expects to kick off public trips soon. Waymo is also testing its newest vehicle, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, with a safety specialist present. No word on when the Hyundais will join the robotaxi fleet.

Because otherwise your Waymo might “snitch” to the cops, as in the case of two 15-year-olds in California. According to 404 Media, the two teens were detained after the robotaxi company reported them for drinking and shooting Orbeez from the vehicle. Seems like the kind of behavior you may invite when you open up your unsupervised ridehailing service to the underage. But also Waymos are covered in cameras, inside and out, and have been known to report wrongdoing to the cops. Basically they’re roving surveillance machines!

The Alphabet-owned company was previously only giving rides to people on its interest list. Now it will be open to anyone who downloads the Waymo app. The robotaxi operator says its also testing out rides to Nashville International Airport, and hopes to begin offering service soon. And coming later this year, Waymo will be an option in the Lyft app in Nashville.

The recall comes just weeks after Waymo vehicles drove past ramp closure signs in Arizona and entered closed lanes in San Francisco, according to a filing with the NHTSA. The company paused freeway service last month due to the issue, which it’s fixing with a software update.

The 5,458-acre site in Wittman, Arizona, was once the centerpiece of Apple’s ambition to build its own self-driving car. But after Tim Cook pulled the plug on Project Titan, the tech company put the testing ground up for sale. The deal, recorded June 5th in Maricopa County filings, is for $220 million — nearly twice the $125 million Apple paid for it in 2021. And it comes as Waymo expands its presence in Arizona, including new office space in Tempe.

Virginia doesn’t allow autonomous vehicles yet, but Wired reports the company told state officials in a meeting this week its vehicles are in the state, mapping Arlington and Alexandria with their sensors. Updated laws governing self-driving vehicles are still under discussion, but it’s preparing to bring its vehicles one step closer to Washington, D.C., despite public skepticism and some recent issues.

First, Waymo vehicles needed a software update to stop trying to drive through flooded roads. Then, a neighborhood in Atlanta was overwhelmed by empty Waymos that caused a traffic jam in a cul-de-sac.