Waymo’s robotaxi expansion accelerates with 3 new cities

Waymo said Monday it will launch a robotaxi service in Detroit, Las Vegas and San Diego as the Alphabet-owned company hits the accelerator on its expansion plans.

The announcement illustrates Waymo’s recent evolution from autonomous vehicle technology developer to commercial enterprise. It also follows comments from Waymo co-CEO Takedra Mawakana, who said during TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 last week that it Company scale is essential.

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

Waymo completed more than 250,000 rides per week through April. The company has since added more, though the company hasn’t shared a specific number.

Waymo tested its technology for years in Silicon Valley before launching a commercial robotaxi service in Phoenix, then the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. In the past year, the company partnered with Uber to bring its robotaxis to Atlanta and Austin. Waymo also announced plans to expand its commercial business to several new markets in 2026, including Denver, Miami, Nashville, London, Seattle and Washington DC.

Waymo said Monday that it plans to launch a mix of self-driving Jaguar i-Pace and Zicor RT vehicles in three markets this week. But the public will not have access right now.

Waymo’s go-to-market strategy typically begins with human drivers manually driving vehicles to map city streets. Human safety operators are eventually removed and autonomous vehicles, equipped with cameras, radar, and lidar sensors as well as self-driving software, navigate on their own. After driverless testing, Waymo offered access to employees, media and some customers before finally opening the robotaxi service to the public.

Las Vegas Mayor Shelly Barkley said in a statement that “the introduction of Waymo and its autonomous driving technology is not a science experiment, but a proven, safe, new option designed to help our residents and the millions of visitors to our city — from the Strip and beyond.” Barclay added that the city is committed to ensuring responsible adoption of this technology.

Waymo is already familiar with these three cities. The company has previously brought its autonomous vehicles to Detroit, Las Vegas and San Diego. Waymo also has an engineering team based in the Detroit area. The company said it is prepared for snowy conditions in Detroit after multiple seasons of driving across the metro Detroit area and Upper Peninsula to expand its winter weather capabilities.

Waymo notes that its rapid expansion is thanks to the generalized approach of its self-driving system. This growth has helped make Waymo a dominant player in the robotaxi market. However, there are other companies making a play for market share.

Zoox operates a free robotaxi service in Las Vegas, a city where it has tested and developed its technology for years. Tesla also has a Robotaxi service, which still has humans in the passenger seat in parts of Austin.