The latest generation of the technology that underpins Waymo’s self-driving taxis is now being used on public roads.
Confirmation that the sixth generation of the Waymo Driver has begun fully autonomous operations — without human safety drivers — arrived in a blog post by the company’s vice president of engineering, Satish Jeyachandran. The tech, initially previewed in 2024 and further tested since, is being introduced in Waymo’s new Ojai robotaxi, which is based on the Zeekr Mix, a Chinese-market electric vehicle sold by automotive giant Geely.
Over the next few years, the Ojai and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 will become the key vehicles in Waymo’s fleet, which until now has been made up of modified versions of Jaguar’s I-Pace. The company, owned by Google parent Alphabet, said it will build tens of thousands of the robotaxis on an annual basis at its factory.
At this stage, autonomous rides in the Ojai are only available to employees and their guests, but Waymo said the service will be available to the public soon.
The sixth-generation tech, which has been specifically designed to be compatible with multiple vehicle platforms, will enable Waymo to operate at greater scale across more diverse environments, including extreme weather — a traditionally problematic area for autonomous vehicles, according to Jeyachandran.
The package reduces the sensor count (from the fifth generation) to 13 cameras, four Lidars and six radar units, resulting in cost reductions.
However, Waymo also claimed performance has improved.
“By leveraging breakthroughs in AI and validating the system through our rigorous safety framework, we can now accelerate our journey to the road with unprecedented velocity and confidence,” he wrote.
In the U.S., the company is established as the robotaxi market leader, having driven nearly 200 million autonomous miles over the past seven years and recently attracting $16 billion in funding, taking its valuation to $126 billion.
With this kind of backing, it is expanding swiftly. This week, Nashville became the latest city to welcome fully autonomous operations, joining the San Francisco Bay area, Phoenix metro area, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Austin.
Waymo said it will see continued growth and expects to deliver more than a million paid robotaxi rides a week by the end of the year.
