Waymo to launch fully driverless robotaxi service in San Francisco

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Marking its first expansion outside of Phoenix, Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) Waymo is set to make its ride-hailing service fully driverless on the hilly streets of San Francisco. That means no safety driver in the front seat of the distinctive electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, which have been spotted all over Golden Gate City. Waymo was last valued at more than $30B, according to investor website PitchBook, after completing a 2.5B Series B financing round in June 2021.

Flashback: Waymo began offering free autonomous rides to a limited number of SF natives last August, but safety drivers were obligated to be on board. Over 10,000 "robo-taxi" rides have been completed since then under a program entitled "Trusted Testers." Waymo and its chief rival Cruise - majority owned by General Motors (GM) - subsequently obtained permits from the California Public Utilities Commission to charge riders for trips with a safety driver, but they still need to get a separate license to collect fares for a fully driverless passenger service.

"We've made this decision after carefully benchmarking the Waymo Driver's performance against our safety evaluation methodologies," co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana wrote in a blog post.

Go deeper: Earlier this month, the NHTSA cleared the way for the production and deployment of self-driving vehicles without conventional controls, like steering wheels and pedals, as long as they meet other safety regulations. "Through the 2020s, an important part of USDOT's safety mission will be to ensure safety standards keep pace with the development of automated driving and driver assistance systems," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg declared. "This new rule is an important step, establishing robust safety standards for ADS-equipped vehicles."