Waymo denies using remote drivers after Senate testimony goes viral
Waymo denies using remote drivers after Senate testimony goes viral

Waymo defended its use of remote assistants for its robotaxis after the testimony of one of its top executives during a Senate hearing went viral. In a letter to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) on Tuesday, Waymo’s head of global operations Ryan McNamara provided a detailed description of the company’s remote assistance operations, including the number […]

TechCrunch Mobility: Rivian’s savior

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation.

Waymo is asking DoorDash drivers to shut the doors of its self-driving cars

If a passenger accidentally leaves a Waymo door open, the vehicle can get stuck in place.

Waymo’s next-gen robotaxi is ready for passengers — and also ‘high-volume production’
Waymo’s next-gen robotaxi is ready for passengers — and also ‘high-volume production’

After years of testing and validation, Waymo announced today that it’s sixth-generation robotaxi technology is finally ready for passenger trips. The updated autonomous driving system will first be rolled out for employees and their friends in San Francisco and Los Angeles, with public customers to follow. Waymo’s current fleet of Jaguar I-Pace vehicles runs on […]

Waymo is testing driverless robotaxis in Nashville

This is the typical next step before it launches a commercial service.

Toyota just introduced its own robotaxi to tackle Tesla and Waymo

Toyota and Pony.ai debut a mass-produced bZ4X robotaxi in China, aiming to scale autonomous mobility with cost cuts, industrial discipline, and a long-term challenge to Tesla and Waymo.
The post Toyota just introduced its own robotaxi to tackle Tesla a…

TechCrunch Mobility: Is $16B enough to build a profitable robotaxi business?

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation.

How Elon Musk is rewriting the rules on founder power

Elon Musk has merged SpaceX and xAI, creating what might be the blueprint for a new Silicon Valley power structure. With his $800 billion net worth already rivaling historic conglomerate GE’s peak market cap,&#1…

What happens when Waymo runs into a tornado? Or an elephant?
What happens when Waymo runs into a tornado? Or an elephant?

An autonomous vehicle drives down a lonely stretch of highway. Suddenly, a massive tornado appears in the distance. What does the driverless vehicle do next? This is just one of the scenarios that Waymo can simulate in the “hyper realistic” virtual world that it has just created with help from Google’s DeepMind. Waymo’s World Model […]

Why Waymo is having a hard time time stopping for school buses 
Why Waymo is having a hard time time stopping for school buses 

For years, Alphabet-owned Waymo has tried to set itself apart from other self-driving startups by emphasizing a culture of caution and safety. Now, just ahead of major planned rollouts across the country, it is facing a recurring failure in one of the most sensitive places imaginable: school zones. In December, the National Highway Traffic Safety […]