Waymo plans potential sale of robotaxis to consumers

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai indicated that Waymo may eventually offer its autonomous vehicles for personal ownership, marking a potential shift from its current ride-hailing business model. This move would pit Waymo directly against Tesla, which plans to launch its own robotaxi service and sell self-driving vehicles for personal use. Waymo's vehicles rely on a sophisticated combination of cameras and lidar sensors for navigation and safety, leading to higher costs compared to Tesla’s camera-only approach. Currently, Waymo operates the only fare-collecting driverless taxi service in the U.S. with a fleet of over 700 vehicles, while Tesla is preparing to deploy its first robotaxis in Austin. Despite these developments, experts remain cautious about the widespread adoption of personal autonomous vehicles due to ongoing technical and regulatory challenges. No specific timeline for Waymo’s personal ownership option was provided.