Alphabet Inc’s GOOG GOOGL self-driving subsidiary Waymo said on Monday it is ready to roll out fully driverless services in San Francisco without a “specialist” behind the wheel.
What Happened: Waymo had been piloting its autonomous taxi service with a safety driver on board in San Francisco since August last year.
“We’ve made this decision after carefully benchmarking the Waymo Driver’s performance against our safety evaluation methodologies,” Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana wrote in a company blog post, adding that it marks a key step towards deploying a fully autonomous commercial service.
Waymo did not provide a timeline to deploy the service without safety drivers.
See Also: Waymo And Cruise Said To Be Seeking Approval To Commercialize Self-Driving Rides In San Francisco
Why It Matters: The development is key to Waymo’s plans as it looks to scale up the business after years of revenue-generating deployment delay of self-driving vehicles.
General Motors Co GM-owned self-driving taxi service Cruise and Waymo had reportedly secured permits from the California Public Utilities Commission earlier this month to offer paid rides with a safety driver.
Price Action: GOOG stock closed 0.24% lower at $2,729.6 a share on Monday.
Photo courtesy: Waymo
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