The companies announced their plan to expand to Austin and Atlanta in September 2024, and Waymo raised a cool 5.6 billion in October to help pay for it. Unlike the Waymo One service offered to riders in San Francisco and Los Angeles, interested Austin riders will get a chance to ride in a Waymo just by ordering an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric ride, similar to how things are handled in Phoenix. You're not guaranteed to receive a Waymo when you do order one of those rides, but Uber says you can increase your chances of receiving one by changing your "Ride Preferences" in the app. Upfront prices remain the same whether you get a Waymo or not, though if you do end up in a robotaxi, you won't be prompted to tip. You'll use the Uber app to unlock the Waymo, open its trunk and start your ride, too.

Waymo and Uber are planning to bring their robotaxi service to more locales in the near future. Waymo One will arrive in Austin and Atlanta by early 2025. Folks in the two cities will be able to take a ride in Waymo's autonomous, electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles via the Uber app. Waymo employees in Austin are already using the service. The company will open up access to a limited number of public riders via the Waymo One app before moving the service to Uber early next year.

A group of autonomous vehicle developers are pressuring California lawmakers to introduce a regulatory process that would eventually allow autonomous trucks on public roads. Thirty-five autonomous vehicle leaders including Waymo, Uber, Volvo, and Aurora signed an open letter last week addressed to California Governor Gavin Newsom, arguing that if California does not soon permit testing of autonomous trucks on public roads, it could lose its competitive edge. While California has allowed for the testing of smaller, autonomous vehicles on public roads since 2019, semi-trucks and delivery vehicles weighing more than 10,001 pounds remain prohibited. California figures as an important testing ground for autonomous vehicles for two reasons: Not only is the state an innovation hub for self-driving technology, but it's also the home of several highways that connect multiple key cross-country freight routes. California's plans for allowing autonomous trucking still remain unclear.

Former Waymo and Uber self-driving car-whiz kid, Anthony Levandowski was sentenced last week to 18 months in federal prison for stealing trade secrets. Levandowski will also pay a $95,000 fine and $756,499.22 in restitution to Waymo. He co-founded Google's self-driving car program, now Waymo, in 2009 and served as the program's technical lead until January 2016, when he left to co-found self-driving truck start-up Otto. Seven months later Uber acquired Otto for $680M and named Levandowski the head of its self-driving car division. He was on top of the tech world. He appeared in Wired Magazine as the go-to voice in Silicon Valley for self-driving cars and LiDAR technology.

Mercedes Benz owner Daimler is teaming up with Bosch to launch a fleet of driverless taxis in California's Silicon Valley next year. It is part of a program to test vehicles designed for city driving in an attempt to keep up with the likes of Waymo and Uber. The world's largest maker of premium cars and biggest automotive supplier gave few details about their robo-taxi program, described as a passenger shuttle service, and did not reveal which city would host it. Mercedes boss Daimler is teaming up with Bosch to launch a fleet of driverless taxis in California's Silicon Valley next year. Negotiations with the municipality within the sprawling technology hub of Silicon Valley were still underway, spokespersons for the companies said on a conference call with journalists.

Waymo alleges that, in early 2016, Anthony Levandowski downloaded 14,000 files related to autonomous vehicle design before leaving to found his own self-driving truck startup with several Google engineers. Waymo alleges that, in early 2016, Anthony Levandowski downloaded 14,000 files related to autonomous vehicle design before leaving to found his own self-driving truck startup with several Google engineers. It involves two of the biggest names in Silicon Valley -- Uber and Google's subsidiary Waymo. At issue is whether Uber stole valuable intellectual property when it hired Waymo's star engineer, Anthony Levandowski. Google has pursued autonomous vehicle technology for almost as long as Uber has existed. It founded Waymo in late 2016 to continue its research into self-driving cars and the software that powers them.

A Silicon Valley titan who wants to establish a church that worships AI could be about to found a'quintessential American religion', an expert has claimed. Anthony Levandowski, who filed for'Way of the Future' in 2015, helped create Google Street View and engineered Waymo and Uber's self-driving cars. An expert in religious studies now claims this strange idea resembles Hinduism and could bring out the best in humans. A Silicon Valley titan who wants to establish a church that worships AI could be about to found a'quintessential American religion', an expert has claimed (stock image) Anthony Levandowski, who filed for'Way of the Future' in 2015, helped create Google Street View and engineered Waymo and Uber's self-driving cars. The original filings say the religion's purpose is to'develop and promote the realisation of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence'.

Self-driving has had many takers despite not being a mainstream technology yet. The newest player on the scene is the Russian tech giant Yandex, which showcased its self-driving car Tuesday. In the press release, the company detailed its plans to launch a self-driven taxi service. It stated that it plans to use driverless technologies for application across a wide range of industries. While self-driving technology was being developed mostly in the U.S., tech companies from other parts of the world have also shown interest in it.