Alphabet's Waymo might let you buy one of their robotaxis for yourself — but phim sez an doit's unclear when, or at what price.
According to Reuters, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is considering this possibility. "There is future optionality for personal ownership," he said, without offering any additional details.
While that's as vague as can be, it's still interesting that Waymo is looking at selling its robotaxis to private individuals in the future. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been talking about this for years, and the company is planning on launching its Cybercab autonomous car sometime in 2026. Tesla vehicles are capable of partially autonomous driving thanks to the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) set of features, which is currently offered to users for beta testing.
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Waymo, however, is ahead of Tesla's game in one key aspect: While Tesla has only recently started an autonomous ride-hailing service (and only as a very limited beta), Waymo has been running a fully driverless taxi service in parts of California, Arizona, and Texas for years.
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On the other hand, Waymo hasn't been in the business of producing or selling cars at all so far. Waymo's fleet consists of Jaguar I-Pace cars fitted with a bunch of additional sensors. It's unclear what type of car Waymo would offer to individuals, but it would likely have to be through a partnership with a car maker.
Topics Self-Driving Cars