Waymo

Waymo begins fully autonomous operations with its 6th-generation Driver, positioning the new stack as the main platform for lower-cost, higher-scale expansion across more vehicle types and tougher weather conditions.

By April, Waymo is serving riders in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, San Antonio, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Waymo passes roughly 500,000 paid rides per week across its 11 U.S. metros as of late March 2026 — a tenfold increase from 50,000 weekly rides in May 2024 — keeping it on Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana's path to 1 million weekly trips by the end of 2026.

On May 13, 2026 Waymo expands its driverless service area by more than 20% to roughly 1,400 square miles across 11 markets, starting with Miami and rolling into Austin, Atlanta, Houston, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Waymo begins offering public trips in the Ojai — its first ground-up purpose-built robotaxi, built by Zeekr and outfitted at Waymo's Arizona factory — across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, starting with about 100 vehicles on the 6th-generation Waymo Driver.

On June 4 Waymo and B2U Storage Solutions announce a multi-year supply agreement to repurpose batteries from Waymo's electric robotaxi fleet into grid-connected battery energy storage systems across California and Texas. Retired Jaguar I-PACE packs (typically still at 70-80% of original capacity) will provide grid services in those electricity markets, turning end-of-life fleet hardware into stationary storage as the ~4,000-vehicle commercial fleet scales.

A CNN investigation published June 3, 2026, drawing on public records across Waymo's 11-metro footprint, found robotaxis have run red lights, driven into closed and flooded roads, and blocked emergency responders — including a June 6, 2026 Dallas incident where a Waymo was filmed on a deputy constable's body camera partially obstructing crews at a fatal apartment fire. Federal regulators are running at least five concurrent probes, including the flooding incidents that triggered a 3,800-vehicle recall in May 2026, illegal passing of stopped school buses, and a January crash that injured a child. Waymo said incidents are isolated and that no investigation has identified a systemic safety defect.

On June 5, 2026, Waymo acquires a 5,458-acre autonomous-vehicle testing facility in Wittmann, Arizona — built by Apple for ~$125M in 2021 as the centerpiece of its now-cancelled Project Titan self-driving program — paying $220M from Route 14 Investment Partners, a Delaware entity linked to Apple. The site includes a 115-acre city-simulation course, a vehicle dynamics area, a four-mile oval track, and a dedicated freeway course; Waymo will use it for rider-only testing, motion control validation, and operational training as the commercial fleet scales toward 1 million weekly rides.

On June 11, 2026, Waymo launched Waymo Premier, its first loyalty subscription, at $29.99 a month for priority vehicle matching, 10% back in Waymo Cash ride credits, up to five free cancellations a month, and early access to new markets. The invite-only plan rolled out to tens of thousands of the company's most frequent riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix — Waymo's first move to build recurring revenue beyond per-ride fares as it scales toward 1 million weekly trips.

Disclosed through NHTSA on June 18, 2026, Waymo issues a voluntary recall of 3,871 fifth-generation vehicles after a software defect let robotaxis enter closed freeway construction zones and keep traveling at posted speeds. It followed 13 incidents in Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area — including seven SF cars on May 18 — prompting Waymo to pull its fleet from all highways on May 19 while a software fix is developed. The action is separate from the May flooded-roads recall and adds to a string of federal probes into the company's safety record.

On June 25, 2026 Waymo opens its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the general public in Nashville, letting anyone hail a driverless trip across a roughly 60-square-mile area spanning Broadway, 12 South, Midtown, and East Nashville. The public launch follows an interest-list rollout running since April that served tens of thousands of riders, with access through the Lyft app slated for later in 2026.

In late June 2026 Waymo and Uber wound down their roughly three-year Phoenix partnership (launched October 2023), removing Waymo robotaxis from the Uber app in Phoenix and returning those vehicles to Waymo's own app and fleet. Reported by CNBC on June 29 and confirmed locally in early July, the shift also pairs the freed-up Phoenix cars with autonomous DoorDash deliveries — a tie-up that competes with Uber Eats — while Uber said it would line up a different AV partner for Phoenix. The Waymo–Uber partnerships in Austin and Atlanta, where Uber manages fleet and demand, continue unaffected.

On July 8, 2026 Waymo said it is bringing fully autonomous rides to four new U.S. markets — Las Vegas, San Diego, Tampa, and Denver — with Las Vegas vehicles operating with no human at the wheel that day and the others to follow. The rollout starts with Alphabet employees before opening to the public, extending Waymo's driverless footprint beyond its existing metros as it pushes toward 1 million paid rides per week by year-end and a planned first international launch in London.

On July 8, 2026 NHTSA sent letters to autonomous-vehicle developers demanding they fix a 'clear pattern' of driverless cars interfering with police, firefighters, ambulances and other first responders, calling the failures a 'functional insufficiency' rather than a rare edge case. Regulators cited multiple incidents — including Waymo vehicles that had to be moved by officers during emergencies — and gave companies until the end of July to explain how they will detect and respond to emergency scenes. As the largest U.S. robotaxi operator, Waymo faces the most scrutiny; the order adds to a string of federal probes into the company's safety record even as it expands to new metros.

In mid-July 2026 Waymo's regulatory pressures sharpened on two fronts. NHTSA's end-of-July deadline for AV developers to explain how they will stop interfering with first responders remained open, with regulators continuing to scrutinize the pattern but not yet opening a formal investigation. And in Washington, D.C., a July 13 hearing over an autonomous-vehicle bill exposed a lobbying clash between Waymo — which backs the measure — and Uber, which argues the framework would effectively hand Waymo a monopoly, underscoring how policy fights are becoming as consequential to robotaxi expansion as the technology itself.

Waymo opens both San Francisco and Los Angeles to anyone who downloads the Waymo app, moving both cities beyond waitlists and trusted-tester access.

Waymo transitions its Waymo One fleet to the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE and expands Metro Phoenix to 180 square miles by connecting Downtown Phoenix, the East Valley, and Scottsdale.

Opens fully driverless (no safety driver) Waymo One rides to the general public in the Phoenix East Valley — a global first for commercial robotaxi operations.

Launches Waymo One, the world's first commercial autonomous ride-hailing service, in the Phoenix metro area. Initially operates with safety drivers, then expands to fully driverless rides.

Google's self-driving car project becomes Waymo, a standalone company under Alphabet. John Krafcik becomes the first CEO.

Completes the world's first fully autonomous ride on public roads in Austin, Texas, with a blind passenger and no steering wheel or pedals in the vehicle.

Google begins its self-driving car project under Sebastian Thrun, building on technology from the DARPA Grand Challenge. Early prototypes use modified Toyota Prius and Lexus vehicles.