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The initial hesitation surrounding the use of driverless cars has largely dissipated, as evidenced by recent developments from Waymo, the autonomous vehicle division of Alphabet. The company now reports an impressive 250,000 paid rides booked weekly across major cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin, reflecting a significant increase of 50,000 rides since February.
During an earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized Waymo’s commitment to expanding its reach, stating, “We can’t possibly do it all ourselves.” The company is currently seeking partnerships with rideshare services like Uber and various automobile manufacturers, alongside exploring maintenance service collaborations.
Alphabet’s Chief Financial Officer, Anat Ashkenazi, remarked on the call that Waymo is making significant strides in leveraging its technological advances to rapidly scale up and establish a sustainable business model. This progress has positioned Waymo competitively within the autonomous vehicle sector.
In a race for dominance in the autonomous vehicle market, Waymo has outpaced Tesla, a point highlighted during Musk’s recent earnings call, where he expressed skepticism about Waymo’s business model. He remarked that Waymo’s vehicles encounter higher costs due to their “expensive sensor suite,” asserting that Tesla’s technology is more economically scalable and predicting an eventual commanding market share.
In response, John Krafcik, the former CEO of Waymo, countered Musk’s claims in an interview with Business Insider, pointing out that Tesla has yet to compete directly in the robotaxi space. Krafcik noted that while Tesla has sold numerous cars, it has not successfully provided robotaxi services to consumers. He further emphasized that despite Tesla’s aspirations to compete with Waymo, they have consistently failed in that endeavor over the past decade.
The competitive landscape also includes other notable players, such as Amazon’s Zoox, Mobileye, May Mobility, WeRide, and Baidu’s Apollo Go. Nonetheless, Waymo currently appears to hold a significant lead in the ongoing robotaxi race.
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