Waymo, the autonomous vehicle division of Alphabet, announced plans to expand its driverless taxi service to four new U.S. cities: Las Vegas, Denver, San Diego, and Tampa. The company will initially offer rides to employees before rolling out the service to the public later this year. Waymo currently operates in over 10 cities and plans to launch in London by the end of 2024.
The expansion comes as Waymo faces challenges, including incidents where its vehicles encountered flooded roads, traffic jams, and fireworks. Despite these issues, the company has raised $16 billion in funding and aims to reach 1 million weekly rides by year-end. Competitors like Tesla and Zoox are also expanding their autonomous services, with Zoox targeting Austin and Miami later this year.