New York governor Kathy Hochul says she will propose a new law allowing limited autonomous vehicle pilots in smaller cities. Full-blown services could be next. As self-driving car services from Alphabet's Waymo, Amazon's Zoox, and Tesla have slowly, quietly expanded across the US, one big, important state has mostly stayed mum: New York . The union's fourth most populous state has some of the tightest laws governing autonomous vehicles, requiring companies approved to test in the state to only do so with a driver behind the wheel. There's no current path for companies to operate the sort of commercial robotaxi services like the sort seen in San Francisco or Las Vegas.

Two new self-driving car services--one in Atlanta from Lyft and May Mobility, another in Las Vegas from Amazon subsidiary Zoox--prove that the robotaxi race is still on. Now comes the hard part. Today, two robotaxi firms operating on opposite sides of the US say they're opening their services to the public. The Ann Arbor tech developer May Mobility has launched its self-driving car service on the Lyft app in a section of Atlanta, Georgia. Starting today, anyone who orders a Lyft in the area might be paired with an autonomous vehicle.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has refused one of Tesla's initial attempts to trademark the term "Robotaxi" because it believes the name is generic and already in use by other companies, according to a filing spotted by TechCrunch. Tesla was hoping to trademark the term in connection to its planned self-driving car service, but now it'll have to reply with more evidence to change the office's mind. The main issue outlined in the USPTO decision is that "Robotaxi" is "merely descriptive," as in its an already commonly used term. A robotaxi typically refers to the self-driving cars used in services like Waymo. As long as Silicon Valley has believed money could be made selling autonomous vehicles (and the rides you can take in them), the term has been in use.

German automobile automakers have invested billions of dollars in developing and testing autonomous vehicles. The German government is also developing a legal framework to allow autonomous driving in specific settings, says KPMG. A close second is The Netherlands and China with the United States and Sweden fighting for 3rd place. When you purchase your Autonomous from us, you can relax knowing we recommended you the very best.

Cruise, a self-driving car service out of San Francisco, was granted a driverless vehicle permit for the state's autonomous vehicle pilot program. Cruise, a self-driving car service out of San Francisco, was granted a driverless vehicle permit for the state's autonomous vehicle pilot program. The California Public Utilities Commission announced Friday that Cruise, a self-driving car service out of San Francisco, has been authorized to participate in the state's first pilot program to provide driverless ride services to the public. The company is not allowed to charge passengers for rides. Eight companies have permits for testing driverless vehicles in California, but Cruise is the only company approved for giving rides to passengers without a safety driver on board.

With the unveiling of its latest autonomous test vehicle, Ford believes it's one step closer to offering a commercial self-driving car service (via NBC News). In a new Medium post, the automaker detailed its fourth-generation autonomous test vehicle, claiming in the process that it includes all the technologies the company needs for commercialization. "With our fourth-generation test vehicle, we have everything we need from a vehicle to stand up our self-driving service," the company said. And, we look forward to telling you more about how this service will ultimately help make people's lives better." As for the vehicle itself, it builds on the company's Escape SUV, instead of the Fusion sedan Ford had used for its previous generation testbeds.

This week, the WIRED Transportation team highlighted (as we often do) a few exciting developments in self-driving cars. The Senate is finally considering self-driving car legislation, and might finalize it before the end of the year. An autonomous vehicle shuttle company bagged some new government contracts, and will open its six-seaters to members of the general public this month. Waymo, the putative leader in the space, finally launched its self-driving car service in metro Phoenix, Arizona. And then there were some asterisks.

The rumor was true: Waymo's self-driving car service is here. The company has launched Waymo One, its first commercial ride hailing offering. People in part of the metro Phoenix area can use an app to ask for an autonomous vehicle 24/7 much like they would ridesharing cars, complete with price estimates and trip reviews. Up to three adults and a child can travel at once. To no one's surprise, though, Waymo is starting cautiously -- it's hoping to avoid further collisions and ease the community into a driverless world. The service will initially be limited to "early riders" who've already been a part of Waymo's test programs.

It's been a long time in coming, but Waymo finally appears to be on the cusp of launching a commercial self-driving car service. Bloomberg sources claim that the Alphabet-owned brand will launch its autonomous transport option in the Phoenix suburbs sometime in early December. Many details are reportedly still under wraps, but it would operate under a new brand and "directly" challenge ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft, right down to the pricing. It'd serve a roughly 100 square mile area and would initially rely on passengers from Waymo's Early Rider Program, but they would be free to talk about it take people from outside the program. There would initially be backup drivers in some cars to assuage customers and take over in a pinch, but the vehicles would drive themselves nearly the entire time.

The agreement is the latest sign of Waymo's confidence in its self-driving car technology, which sprung from a secret Google project started nine years ago. The technology will be deployed in a ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area before the end of this year and then expand into other U.S. markets.