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Waymo Begins Freeway Testing in LA // The First Ride AI Speakers
All the more reasons to visit LA for Ride AI this spring.
January 29, 2025
All the more reasons to visit LA for Ride AI this spring.
Our first-ever Ride AI summit is heading to Hollywood, Los Angeles on 4/2, and in case you missed it, we’ve begun announcing the first speakers. But before diving into that, here’s something time-sensitive: early bird tickets are on sale until Friday (1/31) for 15% off. If you’re planning to join us, we strongly recommend securing your spot now, because space is limited.
For this exclusive gathering, we’re bringing together CEOs and other leaders in transportation, technology, and innovation for a day of actionable insights, candid interviews, and intimate networking. To get us started, here’s a small selection of the industry luminaries you will hear from:
Plus, lots more. We still have a few slots open for interesting demos and case studies. If you’re doing something compelling at the intersection of AV and AI, please reach out.
Join us to discover the tools, systems, and strategies that are reshaping the way we drive, ride, and think about mobility. Register now — early access tickets are available until 1/31 for 15% off.
We’d also like to offer a word of thanks to our sponsors: Mobileye is a global leader in self-driving technology and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), pioneering automotive safety innovation and shaping the future of mobility. Waymo is the world’s first autonomous ride-hailing service. Toyota Research Institute (TRI) conducts research to amplify human ability, focusing on making our lives safer and more sustainable through advances in energy and materials, human-centered AI, human interactive driving, large behavior models, and robotics. Aon is in the business of better decisions. Michigan Central is a destination for advancing technologies and programs that address barriers to mobility in all its forms. Aurora is a leader in autonomous trucking, delivering the benefits of self-driving technology to make transportation safer, more reliable, and more efficient. Bot Auto is an L4 autonomous trucking company, operating its own fleet and offering TaaS to freight customers.
We’re full of gratitude for their support. If you’re interested in sponsoring Ride AI 2025, please be in touch.
Waymo has begun testing robotaxis on LA’s freeways. This is a major step toward commercializing a ride-hail service that can compete with Uber and Lyft. Freeways are an intrinsic part of LA’s transportation network, but until now, Waymo has steered clear of them because they’re riskier than surface roads — fatal crashes are more likely at higher speeds. In the car-centric US, it’s not an exaggeration to say that Waymo’s future growth depends on being able to figure out freeways.
Meanwhile Uber’s AV strategy, according to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, is to leverage its massive global scale to build hybrid networks with robotaxi natives like Waymo and possibly Zoox: “Our partnering with AV developers will speed up commercialization because we can bring them a lot more business much faster.”
According Goldman Sachs, Waymo’s MAUs currently represent 2% of Uber’s US user base and 5% of Lyft’s. Right now the robotaxi company shows higher user churn rates and lower usage frequency compared to traditional ride-hailing services, likely due to the fact that many trips may still be driven by curiosity rather than daily transportation needs.
AV expansion is closely tied to regulatory engagement, so it’s not surprising that Waymo is intensifying its GR efforts in key markets. In San Francisco, where the company is looking to gain access to SFO airport, public records show its lobbyists’ meetings with city officials jumped from 137 in 2023 to 348 in 2024.
GM is missing out on the robotaxi renaissance, having cancelled its Cruise self-driving program late last year, but as a consolation, it does expect to save $1B annually. The Detroit automakers plans to put some of those resources toward advancing its ADAS systems.
Rivian claims hands-free driving is coming this year and eyes-free will be ready in 2026.
Robotics startup Symbotic is taking over Walmart’s warehouse business.
Inside WeRide’s burgeoning robotaxi empire. The recently IPO’d Chinese company is active in 30 cities across 9 countries, but like many of its peers, it is burning a whole lot of cash. “Its net loss in the first three quarters of 2024 widened 20% to 1.92 billion yuan ($265M USD) compared with the same period a year earlier, while its top line fell 14% to 220.3 million yuan ($30M USD).”
Kodiak made its first driverless truck deliveries to customer Atlas Energy Solutions, which has begun using the vehicles in off-road settings in Texas.
In the Biden administrations final days, it finalized a rule banning most Chinese connected vehicles from US soil. In spite of this, Waymo says its plan to deploy next-gen Zeekr robotaxis, made in China, is still a-go.
If you choose to use Waymo’s new “tip” feature, you should know the donation goes charity—not your robot driver. (Related: a hidden feature lets you customize the Waymo display.)
eVTOL startup Ehang opened an autonomous takeoff/landing facility in Shenzhen.
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