Despite a decade of predictions that they were just around the corner, autonomous vehicles that can carry passengers on public roads, no human driver required, have mostly been confined to drawing-board dreams and venture capital–supported pilot programs. The oft-repeated joke is that driverless cars are five years away and they always will be.
But in 2024, driverless taxi company Waymo (owned by Google parent company Alphabet) started expanding its limited commercial operations into something that looks a lot like a full-fledged driverless taxi service in multiple cities. The company performs 100,000 rides a week.
