Waymo, owned by Alphabet, wants to let people buy its robo-taxis for personal use

Waymo, owned by Alphabet and developing self-driving cars, may in the future allow people to buy its robo-taxis for personal use, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said during a conference call after the company's financial results. He did not name any timelines or specific plans, but noted that such an option is "possible in the future," Reuters writes.

This announcement came amid Tesla's active preparations to launch its own robotaxi service in the US this year. Elon Musk's company is betting that its electric cars, equipped with the Full Self-Driving system, will be used in a ride-hailing service, and owners of such cars will be able to earn money by renting them out through an app.

Waymo began as an internal Google project in 2009 and became a separate company in 2016. Despite the challenges in the autonomous car market — including high costs, complex technological challenges, and regulatory hurdles — Waymo has managed to steadily expand. It now has a fleet of more than 700 vehicles, 300 of which operate in San Francisco. Importantly, Waymo is the only company in the US that already operates driverless taxis that charge for rides.

Waymo’s engineering advantage is that it uses a combination of cameras and expensive sensors, including lidar, to create a three-dimensional map of the road. This improves safety but significantly increases the cost of the cars. In contrast, Tesla relies solely on cameras and artificial intelligence, which allows it to reduce the cost of the car. Elon Musk has said that Tesla cars cost about 20-25% of Waymo’s cost and are produced in much higher volumes.

But launching a robotaxi is a difficult task. Experts are skeptical about the possibility of introducing such a technology this year, citing difficulties in operating in difficult weather conditions, at difficult intersections and when interacting with pedestrians. Last year, one competitor, Cruise from General Motors, was forced to stop operations after a serious accident and investigation.

Tesla currently plans to launch a robotaxi service in June in Texas, with further expansion to California and other states.