Did Waymo Just Put Uber in Second Place?

The courtroom fight between Uber and Waymo is over; now the race to get an autonomous ride-hailing service to market is back on. On Friday, we learned that Waymo--the self-driving car arm of Google parent Alphabet--has made one huge stride: The company applied to become a transportation network company in Arizona on Jan. 12, and its permit was approved on Jan. 24, Quartz reports. This nod from the Copper State means Waymo can begin operating a commercial service that would compete with human-powered ride-hail companies like Uber and Lyft, charging passengers for rides in its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans. "As we continue to test drive our fleet of vehicles in greater Phoenix, we're taking all the steps necessary to launch our commercial service this year," a Waymo spokesperson told Slate. Waymo has slowly been making progress toward this goal, beginning with extensive real-world testing in Phoenix.