Waymo Is Putting Self-Driving Trucks on Atlanta Highways. Here's Why That Matters.

Waymo pioneered self-driving cars; now it's playing catch-up on self-driving trucks. Or is it already in the lead there, too? The self-driving car company, formerly part of Google and now owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet, announced Friday that it will start testing self-driving semitrucks on Atlanta highways next week. The big rigs, made by Peterbilt, will carry cargo bound for Google's data centers, the company said in a blog post. A human driver will be behind the wheel even as the car's software pilots it.