Waymo’s co-CEO on the challenge of scaling robotaxis safely

Waymo’s co-CEO, Tekedra Mawakana, had a clear message during his interview on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 on Monday: “It’s imperative that we scale.”

Mawakana was talking about how Waymo balances fundraising (and fueling through that money) with ultimately achieving profitability. But he also made it clear in the interview that he believes Waymo can improve road safety by reaching that scale.

All of this helps explain why the company has broken off expansion this year, and hopes to launch in several other US cities – DC, Miami, Denver, Dallas, Seattle and Nashville – as well. London In 2026. It’s a furious pace that has seen the autonomous vehicle company leverage multiple partnerships with companies like Uber, Lyft and Avis.

“By the end of 2026, you should expect us to be offering 1 million trips per week,” he said.

Mawakana spent a lot of time talking about the challenges of safely reaching this kind of scale during an interview with TechCrunch transportation editor Kirsten Korosek.

The Waymo co-CEO maintained that the company is operating at a level that is safer than a typical human driver. And while he didn’t name names, he took a shot at the contestants, saying they weren’t doing enough Proving that their autonomous vehicle technology is indeed safe.

“It is mandatory [them] To be transparent about what’s going on,” he said. “And if you’re not transparent, it’s my view that you’re not doing what’s necessary to earn the right to make the road safer.”

His comments come as the company continues to iron out edge cases during its expansion — one of the most recent being in Atlanta, Georgia, where a Waymo vehicle pulled in front of a stopped school bus, causing An investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Waymo itself recently published a report claiming that its vehicles are already five times safer than most human drivers and 12 times safer for pedestrians.

Still, Waymo Vehicles has been caught making some head-scratching decisions

“It’s important to recognize, it’s not going to be perfect, but that doesn’t mean you’re not accountable for transparency,” Mwakana said on stage. “I think … we’re really concerned as a company about those days. You know, we don’t say if, we say when, and we plan for them.”

Maukana also said Wemo doesn’t think in terms of “how many”. [incidents] approved.”

“We know they’re going to happen because our cars are on the road with people, and unfortunately, right now, the state of the roads and the state of people driving there are a lot of deaths, and a lot of injuries on the roads,” he said.

And when asked whether the public would accept the death caused by robotaxis in the face of promises of greater safety, Mwakana said: “I think society will.”