Alphabet's Waymo said on Wednesday that it would begin offering robotaxi rides that use freeways across San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, a first for the Google subsidiary as it steps up expansion amid global and domestic competition in the self-driving industry. Freeway rides will initially be available to early-access users, Waymo said. "When a freeway route is meaningfully faster, they can be matched with a freeway trip, providing quicker, smoother, and more efficient rides," it said. The race begins to make the world's best self-driving cars Waymo, which already operates in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, is also extending operations to San Jose, including Mineta San Jose international airport, the second airport in its service area after Phoenix Sky Harbor. The move comes as Tesla expands its robotaxi service with safety monitors and drivers, and Zoox - backed by Amazon - offers free robotaxi rides on and around the Las Vegas Strip.

An unhoused man was taken into custody on suspicion of grand theft auto after police said he tried to steal a Waymo self-driving car in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night. The man entered and tried to operate a Waymo vehicle that had stopped to let out a passenger at the corner of 1st and Main at 10:30 p.m., LAPD Det. After the man, whom a Waymo spokesman described as an "unauthorized pedestrian," entered the vehicle, the company's Rider Support team instructed him to exit the car. When he did not, the company contacted the police, "who were then able to remove and arrest" the man, said Chris Bonelli, a Waymo spokesman. Vincent Maurice Jones, 34, was arrested at 12:15 a.m.

Residents of what is typically a quiet neighborhood in San Francisco are being plagued with humming from several Waymo vehicles crowding a dead-end street. The mysterious sightings are coming from the end of 15th Avenue, where up to 50 of the self-driving cars appear to be confused as they enter the area, residents told local news station KPIX. Resident Jennifer King told KPIX that the vehicles, which are being tested in the California city, all make a multi-point turn and then just leaving from where they came in – and sometimes multiple cars arrive at once. 'I noticed it while I was sleeping,' Jennifer King, a resident in Richmond District told KPIX. 'I awoke to a strange hum and I thought there was a spacecraft outside my bedroom window.'

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Waymo self-driving cars are seen Nov. 28, 2018, in Chandler. Emergency crews directed the afternoon traffic around the wrecked cars and fire engines at McQueen and Pecos roads in the Phoenix suburb in mid-October. The Chrysler Pacifica minivan -- equipped with former Google car company Waymo's self-driving vehicle technology -- approached the scene tepidly, while dozens of other vehicles merged into the turn lanes far sooner. A human driver in this situation might try to make eye contact with the drivers already in the crowded turn lane, or even wave, to try to cut in. But drivers around a Waymo van never know if the car is driving itself, or if the test driver behind the wheel has control as they maneuver through school zones, shopping centers and freeways across the southeast Phoenix metro area, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Waymo self-driving cars will be used to chauffeur "early riders" to and from their Walmart online grocery pickup location. Waymo self-driving cars will be used to chauffeur "early riders" to and from their Walmart online grocery pickup location. The future is here and soon it will be toting grocery shoppers around Phoenix. Walmart and Waymo -- formerly Google's self-driving car project -- announced on Wednesday the launch of a pilot program that will allow consumers to make their grocery pickups with the help of an autonomous vehicle. Participants in Waymo's "early riders" program will be able to take a driverless shuttle service to and from Walmart whenever they purchase groceries from Walmart.com using the retailer's online grocery pickup service.

Speaking today at the Code Conference, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says that his company is in "discussions" to have Waymo self-driving cars added to its network. It's probably too early to think that these talks are definitely going anywhere yet, but it's nevertheless notable because we're less that four months past the resolution of a bitter legal fight between the two companies over alleged trade-secret theft. "I'd welcome Waymo to put cars in our network," he says. When Recode's Kara Swisher asked how Uber would make the case to Waymo to make its cars available via the Uber app, Khosrowshahi's answer was simple: "Economics." He characterized Uber's ride-sharing network as the biggest on the planet, so it would make sense for Waymo to want to be on it.

Police in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler are investigating a collision involving a self-driving vehicle owned by Google spinoff Waymo. Authorities say the crash happened Friday afternoon when a Honda sedan swerved to avoid hitting another car. As a result, they said, the Honda went into opposing traffic lanes and hit the Waymo car. Police said the Waymo vehicle was in autonomous mode and had an occupant in the driver's seat who suffered minor injuries. Waymo is owned by Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company.