Alphabet says Waymo may offer robotaxis for personal ownership in future
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Alphabet's Waymo self-driving taxis may be available for people to own in the future, CEO Sundar Pichai said on Thursday, just as electric vehicle maker Tesla gears up to roll out robotaxis this year in the United States. Waymo, which started as a small self-driving project in 2009 and spun out of Google seven years later, has expanded slowly but steadily in a tricky autonomous vehicle market that has witnessed several casualties due to soaring investment, tight regulatory requirements and tough technological hurdles. With more than 700 vehicles in its fleet - 300 of which operate in San Francisco - Waymo is the only U.S. firm that runs uncrewed robotaxis that collect fares.