Waymo
Waymo is Alphabet’s self-driving company, commercially operating driverless robotaxis in major U.S. cities.
Waymo is a self-driving company under Google's parent company, Alphabet. It started from Google's self-driving car project, and is commercially operating driverless robotaxis in major cities such as Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in the United States.
It is evaluated as a de facto leader in the autonomous driving field in that it is carrying out completely unmanned commercial operations on a large scale. It is a strategy to ensure safety through a multi-sensor method that uses lidar, radar, and cameras, and the accumulated unmanned driving distance and operation data have been disclosed as safety evidence. It is often compared to Tesla, which only uses cameras, for its technological philosophy.
It is rapidly expanding the number of cities it operates in and is heading toward turning a profit, but the high cost of sensors, public opinion and regulations in the event of an accident, and the pursuit of Tesla robotaxi are the points to watch.
✅ Strengths
- It is the de facto leader in large-scale commercial operation of fully driverless robotaxi
- It has built safety trust with multiple sensors and extensive operation data
- Long-term investment is possible with Alphabet's capital power
⚠️ Limits
- It is not easy to secure profitability due to expensive sensors and vehicle modification costs
- Every time an accident occurs, it may face backlash from regulations and public opinion
- The chase of Tesla robotaxi, with its low-cost approach, has begun