- Waymo expanded its fully driverless freeway rides to cover San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, becoming the first U.S. operator to offer this service across multiple major cities.
- Elon Musk responded to Waymo‘s rollout, intensifying attention on the growing competition between Tesla and Waymo in the autonomous vehicle sector.
- Tesla continues to leverage its larger data collection network and manufacturing capabilities, seen by some analysts as key advantages.
- Retail investor sentiment remains neutral for Tesla and bearish for Waymo‘s parent, Alphabet, while Tesla‘s stock rose after the news.
Waymo has begun offering fully driverless freeway rides across several major U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. This move marks the first time any operator in the country has provided autonomous rides at this scale on highways. The new service builds on extensive testing and millions of highway miles driven by employees and early users, according to statements from Waymo.
The expansion now includes trips throughout the Bay Area Peninsula, with curbside service at San Jose International Airport. Waymo has plans to extend this freeway coverage to cities such as Austin and Atlanta.
Competition in the robotaxi sector is escalating. Tesla CEO Elon Musk reacted to the development by replying “Game on” to a post on X from Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean highlighting Waymo‘s milestone. This response reflects the rivalry between Tesla‘s Full Self-Driving (FSD) program and Waymo‘s expanding ride network.
Currently, Tesla runs a supervised pilot in Austin with about 30 robotaxis. The company has announced plans to expand its operations to Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, and Miami. At its recent shareholder meeting, Tesla outlined its intent to significantly scale up production in the next year, targeting 2 to 4 million autonomous “Cybercabs” annually. Tesla also benefits from vast daily real-world driving data, which supports ongoing improvements in its FSD system.
In August, an analyst from Ark Investment Management estimated that Tesla‘s robotaxi fleet might generate up to 90% of its total company value by 2029, based on projections of a $10 trillion U.S. robotaxi market. The analyst referenced Waymo‘s early lead with approximately 250,000 fully autonomous paid rides per week, but noted that Tesla‘s vehicles collectively gather far more real-world data, which can enhance autonomous system development.
On Stocktwits, recent sentiment for Tesla was neutral, while Alphabet saw a bearish outlook. As of this year, Tesla‘s share price has increased by 0.1%, while Alphabet‘s stock has reportedly risen by 46%.
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