Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, announced on Tuesday that its self-driving ride-hailing service, Waymo One, is now available to all residents of San Francisco, nearly four years after launching a similar service in Phoenix, Arizona.
Despite stringent regulatory scrutiny and investor concerns about the increasing investment in this emerging technology, autonomous vehicles are still seen as a potential commercial success for automakers.
In 2021, Waymo initiated a pilot service in San Francisco, initially including a safety driver in all trips to advance the commercialization of the technology.
The company reports that approximately 300,000 people have signed up to experience Waymo's service since opening the waitlist in San Francisco, indicating strong demand. Now, anyone can request a ride through their app.
In 2020, the company had already made the service available to everyone in Phoenix, Arizona, without a waitlist.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Waymo is a pioneer in autonomous driving technology, having begun as an internal Google project in 2009 before launching the first driverless taxi service in the U.S. in 2020.
In March of this year, the company received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to commence Waymo One services in certain cities near Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Rivals, including General Motors-backed Cruise and Amazon's Zoox, are accelerating their efforts in the autonomous vehicle race, despite investigations by automotive regulators.
