Waymo launching driverless ride-hailing service in Phoenix

Alphabet Inc's Waymo self-driving unit is launching a ride-hailing service for the general public with no human driver behind the steering wheel. And, the firm has been testing such fully self-driving cars on public roads in Arizona, Chief Executive John Krafcik said on Tuesday. The announcement by Krafcik at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon is a major advance in the roll-out of fully autonomous vehicles. The firm recently unveiled a self-driving minivan that it hopes could revolutionize the way we travel. It showed off the technology at the closely-guarded'fake town' dubbed The Castle, 120 miles southeast of San Francisco While self-driving car companies test their vehicles in public, they routinely have a human in the driver's seat ready to take over if the technology fails.