WAYMO GOES FULLY AUTONOMOUS IN FOUR NEW CITIES

Waymo plans to operate without safety drivers in the four additional cities, joining San Francisco where the company already runs fully autonomous rides. The move demonstrates confidence in its self-driving technology after years of testing and refinement. The expansion comes as competitors including Cruise and Tesla work toward autonomous vehicle deployment. Waymo has accumulated billions of miles of real-world driving data, informing its approach to scaling operations. Full autonomy in multiple cities requires navigating different regulatory frameworks. Each location has distinct traffic patterns, weather conditions, and infrastructure that the system must handle independently. Waymo has operated ride-hailing services with human supervisors in these cities since 2023. Removing that safety layer represents a significant operational and regulatory milestone, pending necessary approvals from local and state authorities.