Google’s parent company, Alphabet, said
that its autonomous vehicle project was spinning
off from its research lab X and would operate
as a stand-alone company under the name Waymo.
The New York Times says that Alphabet’s
decision to spin out Waymo is a signal that
the company thinks its self-driving technology
has advanced beyond research project status
and is ready for commercialization
The ride-hailing service Uber is already testing
self-driving cars to pick up customers in
Pittsburgh with a person on standby in the
driver’s seat.
Tesla Motors has a semiautonomous feature
called Autopilot that can take over for the
driver for long stretches, and it is preparing
for its newest cars to go fully autonomous
as early as next year.
