Waymo's Weekly Unmanned Taxi Rides Exceed 100,000, Surpassing Robotaxi, as Autonomous Driving Competition Heats Up

Tech 2024-08-21 16:19:12 Source: Network

Waymo's Weekly Unmanned Taxi Rides Exceed 100,000

Waymo's Weekly Unmanned Taxi Rides Exceed 100,000, Surpassing Robotaxi, as Autonomous Driving Competition Heats Up

Waymo

On the evening of August 20th (local time), Waymo, the autonomous taxi company owned by Google, announced that it had surpassed 100,000 weekly paid rides in the US. This figure was only 50,000 in May, indicating a doubling in just three months. This significant growth is mainly attributed to Waymo's continuous expansion of its service area and allowing more users to ride its autonomous taxis this year.

Looking back at this year, Waymo expanded its autonomous driving service area in the San Francisco Peninsula in March. In June, it further announced the full-city rollout of its autonomous driving service in San Francisco, deploying 778 autonomous vehicles in the bustling downtown area for 24/7, fully autonomous, paid operation on a large scale. Waymo's Chief Product Officer stated that self-driving cars are no longer a distant future but a present reality.

With the recent full-city autonomous operation in San Francisco, the surge in the number of autonomous vehicles, and increased user base, Waymo's weekly rides have overtaken Robotaxi, the largest autonomous driving ride-hailing platform in China. Public data shows that since its launch in Wuhan in May 2022, Robotaxi currently has only over 400 autonomous vehicles in the city, with approximately 826,000 orders per quarter, averaging around 68,000 per week.

Waymo's rapid development has also received strong support from its parent company Alphabet. In its second-quarter earnings conference call, Alphabet stated that it would invest another $5 billion (approximately 36.4 billion yuan) in Waymo in the coming years. This investment will enable Waymo to continue building a world-leading autonomous driving technology company.

The competition between Waymo and Robotaxi reflects a high-stakes battle between the US and China in the autonomous driving field, pushing global competition in the autonomous driving industry to a fever pitch. This year, several traditional automobile manufacturing countries like Germany, Japan, and the UK have joined the autonomous driving race, implementing industry deployment from a national strategy perspective. Legislative actions are ongoing to build "institutional high ground" and seize the lead in the development of the autonomous driving industry.

Waymo's success signifies a breakthrough in the real-world application of autonomous driving technology and foreshadows rapid development in the industry. With ongoing technological advancements and policy refinements, we have reason to believe that autonomous vehicles will gradually integrate into our lives, providing a more convenient, safe, and efficient travel experience.

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