Waymo

Waymo said it would make a donation to a local animal rights group after one of its robotaxis killed a beloved bodega cat named KitKat, KRON4 reports. According to Waymo, the cat darted under the vehicle while it was pulling away from picking up a passenger. But according to a 311 complain, the robotaxi did not slow down, swerve, or attempt to avoid the cat. This isn’t the first furry friend to perish under a Waymo — a small dog was killed in 2023. (Waymo said the collision was unavoidable.)

It’s the latest streaming music channel you can link to while riding in a Waymo robotaxi, after Spotify and iHeart. And the absence of a human driver means you can play all your guilty pleasure tracks without fear of judgement. What song do will you be blasting next?

After months of testing, the company’s autonomous Zeekr minivans will be deployed in the Mile High City this fall. Waymo will use a mixed fleet of Jaguar I-Pace with the 5th-gen hardware and Zeekr RTs with 6th-gen hardware. I remain impressed that Waymo is able to clear all the tariffs and restrictions on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

We may start to see Waymo robotaxis in a lot more cities in the coming months, the company’s co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said on Hard Fork this week:

Mayor Eric Adams announced that the DOT has granted Waymo a permit to test up to eight autonomous vehicles in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn with a safety driver at the wheel. Waymo aims to eventually operate its robotaxis without safety drivers, which NYC currently prohibits.

A new Spotify integration will let you connect your account to Waymo, allowing you to play your favorite tunes while the robotaxi takes you to your destination. Waymo also offers the ability to cast music, as well as listen to a selection of curated radio stations.

We here at The Verge remain committed to our mission to bring you all relevant windshield wiper news. So it is with great pleasure that I point you to this MotorTrend piece about Waymo’s new Zeekr-made robotaxi, and its plethora of tiny windshield wipers. Eight to be exact: four on the roof, and one at the corner above each wheel. (There are also two regular sized wipers, but who cares about that?) These diminutive wipers are meant to keep the various sensors clean and free of road grime. I remember first encountering Waymo’s tiny lidar wipers back in 2019. I’m glad to see that they’re still in the game, and still itty bitty.

In Dallas, Waymo’s fleet will be managed through “a new strategic, multi-year partnership with Avis Budget Group,” Waymo says.

The two people were shot Sunday night while sitting in a Waymo robotaxi near Santa Monica’s 3rd Street promenade, KCAL News reports. We still don’t have any details about the condition or identities of the victims, and police are still actively searching for a suspect. The shooting comes a few weeks after five Waymo vehicles were vandalized and destroyed during anti-ICE protests in downtown Los Angeles.

At least five of Alphabet’s autonomous cars have been set on fire, according to the New York Times, as protesters rage against the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. “We will not be serving any rides in the protest area until it is deemed safe,” a Waymo spokesperson said.

The Alphabet-owned company is planning to set its vehicles loose in Houston, Orlando, and San Antonio as part of its 2025 “road trip.” The vehicles will be manually driven, and the testing operations are not necessarily a precursor to the launch of a commercial robotaxi service — nor is Waymo precluded from launching a service, either. The company sees it as an opportunity to see how well its self-driving system adapts to new locales with varying weather conditions and regional driving habits. Waymo previously said it was testing its vehicles in Las Vegas, Miami, and Japan.

ATL will be the second city, after Austin, where Waymo’s driverless cars will be available exclusively on the Uber app. Ahead of the public launch this summer, Uber is opening up access to a group of riders selected from the company’s interest list for early test rides. Those riders will get $10 in Uber cash to use on their Waymo ride. And in exchange they’ll be asked to share feedback on the ride, as well as rate the experience after drop-offs. After a few week, Waymo’s driverless vehicles will be available to anyone with an Uber account who’s traveling within the 65-square mile service area that includes Downtown, Buckhead, and Capitol View.

Waymo’s robotaxis are available exclusively on the Uber app in the Texas capital, and today the ridehailing company provided some color on how that partnership is going since its launch in early March. Waymo’s approximately 100 vehicles in Austin are “busier than over 99% of all drivers in Austin in terms of completed trips per day,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in prepared remarks during the company’s Q1 earnings call. He added, “So far, this launch has exceeded our expectations.”

Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle company has “reached a preliminary agreement” with the world’s largest automaker “to explore a collaboration focused on accelerating the development and deployment of autonomous driving technologies,” according to a just-published blogpost. Does that mean we’ll soon be getting driverless Rav4s? Too soon to say, but the agreement also includes Woven, which is Toyota’s autonomous subsidiary. And the announcement specifically mention’s Toyota’s expertise to enhance next-generation personally owned vehicles (POVs)” — which we know is on the mind of Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

Users on the Uber app can sign up to gain early access to the robotaxi service, which will take people across 65 square miles of Atlanta, including Downtown, Buckhead, and Capitol View. Waymo says “select riders” who join the waitlist “may get access to Waymo rides ahead of the public launch.”

KTLA reports that the walk-up window remained open on Monday night while the Waymo failed to exit a Chick-fil-A in Santa Monica, CA, as shown in this video posted by TMZ.

Security researcher Jane Manchun Wong has discovered another hidden Waymo gem, this time related to the robotaxi operator’s use of footage from its interior cameras to train generative AI. According to a screenshot of an unreleased privacy policy, Waymo is offering customers the opportunity to opt-out from having their “personal information,” including “interior camera data associated with your identity,” to train generative AI models. Waymo uses this data to “tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests.” Coming soon to a robotaxi near you?