Waymo will deploy its driverless cars in Japan and will test its technology in another country for the first time. According to CNBC, the company will begin testing its Jaguar I-PACE vehicles in Tokyo in early 2025 and expects to remain in the country for an "extended period." During the vehicles' experimental phase, which will last for several quarters, human drivers from the Japanese taxi company Nihon Kotsu will operate Waymo's cars so that its technology can map the city. The data gathered from those tests will then be used to train the company's self-driving system. Waymo will also be recreating Tokyo's driving conditions in a closed course in the US, where it will put more of its robotaxis to the test, and will be using data collected from that effort for training.

Waymo One is now available to all customers anywhere in LA county, which is 80 square miles. The company has dropped the waitlist for area residents. Now LA residents will get to experience sitting in endless traffic with a series of cameras and navigational algos leading the way instead of a person. This expanded service starts today and it offers "fully autonomous rides" at any time of the day or night. Let's hear it for some drunken late night bonding with an algorithm.

Cruise has been testing its self-driving vehicles in Houston since May, and it started giving employees, along with select friends and family members, fully driverless rides in August. Now, it's offering the public the chance to catch a ride to their destinations on robotaxis with no drivers behind the wheel. The company is now onboarding Houston residents who signed up for its waitlist, and it's also encouraging those who've yet to do so to visit its website and send in a request for access. Those who do get in early will be able to hail a driverless ride through its app for a flat fare of $5 for a limited time. Initially, Cruise will have the authority to operate seven days a week from 9PM to 6AM only in Downtown, Midtown, East Downtown, Montrose, Hyde Park and River Oaks neighborhoods.

Waymo is one step closer to charging passengers for fully driverless rides in San Francisco. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted the company a Driverless Pilot permit, which allows it to pick up passengers in a test vehicle without a driver behind the wheel. By securing the permit, Waymo now has the authority to offer driverless rides throughout San Francisco, portions of Daly City, as well as in portions of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. Its vehicles are allowed to go as fast as 65 miles per hour and can operate 24/7, but the company can't charge for the rides just yet. Waymo told Engadget that it will begin offering free rides without a driver to select members of the public in the coming weeks.

Lyft has started offering autonomous robotaxi rides, with two safety drivers on board, in Austin, Texas. The autonomous drives will be powered by Argo AI's technology in Ford vehicles. Prices for the rides will also be the same as normal Lyft rides. When the vehicle arrives, riders use the Lyft app to unlock the doors and start their ride. While riders will be sharing their rides will two safety operators right now, the company aims to give fully autonomous rides in the future.

GM's Cruise has started charging passengers for fully driverless rides in San Francisco. The company secured a driverless deployment permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) earlier this month, making it the first in the industry to do so. That allows Cruise to charge for rides with no safety driver behind the wheel, though its vehicles are limited to select streets in the city. In addition, the company's paid passenger service can only operate from 10PM to 6AM, and its cars can only drive at a max speed of 30 mph. Another limitation is that its driverless vehicles aren't allowed on highways and can't operate during times of heavy fog and rain.

A Cruise AV, General Motor's autonomous electric Bolt EV is displayed in Detroit on Jan. 16, 2019. California regulators on Thursday gave Cruise's robotic taxi service the green light to begin charging passengers for driverless rides in San Francisco. A Cruise AV, General Motor's autonomous electric Bolt EV is displayed in Detroit on Jan. 16, 2019. California regulators on Thursday gave Cruise's robotic taxi service the green light to begin charging passengers for driverless rides in San Francisco. California regulators on Thursday gave a robotic taxi service the green light to begin charging passengers for driverless rides in San Francisco, a first in a state where dozens of companies have been trying to train vehicles to steer themselves on increasingly congested roads.

Waymo is now operating fully driverless cars in more than one city. The Alphabet-owned brand has started trials of self-driving Jaguar I-Pace EVs in San Francisco with no backup drivers. The tests are limited to employees hailing rides in the company's early service area, but this still represents a major milestone -- the company claimed in a message to Engadget that it was the first anywhere to offer autonomous ride-hailing in two different territories. You'll also see an expanded footprint in Arizona. Waymo said it will expand fully autonomous rides to downtown Phoenix, starting with employees.

Waymo has long kept details about its industry-leading self-driving technology under wraps. The company has done millions of miles of testing in Arizona and California--including thousands of miles with no one behind the wheel. But until last month, almost everyone who experienced those driverless rides was bound by a strict nondisclosure agreement. This story originally appeared on Ars Technica, a trusted source for technology news, tech policy analysis, reviews, and more. Ars is owned by WIRED's parent company, Condé Nast.

Waymo said Thursday that it is opening its fully driverless ride-hailing service in suburban Phoenix to the public. Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving car unit began ferrying a select group of a few hundred customers, known as "early riders," in vehicles without safety drivers in the summer of 2019. After receiving feedback from those riders, who were bound by non-disclosure agreements not to discuss their experiences publicly, the company is making driverless rides in its Chrysler Pacifica minivans available to all users in the Phoenix area. "It's a really, really big deal, we think, for us, and for the world," said Waymo Chief Executive Officer John Krafcik in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. It's been five years since Waymo provided the first-ever passenger trip in a driverless vehicle on a public road.