We wondered what Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai meant when he said on their earnings call last Thursday that for Waymos, “there is future optionality for personal ownership.”
Well, we only had to wait a minute to find out. Waymo announced today that they’re developing autonomous technology with a little automotive manufacturer you may have heard of: Toyota.
Tucked into the announcement, Waymo also plans to release a generalizable autonomous driving system for any given vehicle. Read our full analysis!
I just hope that the consumer version will give you the option to change your route, cause the Waymo taxis love to drive through random neighborhoods with a 25 MPH speed limit and increase your travel time, instead of sticking to major roads.
They also have a tendency to make illegal turns, randomly brake for no reason (especially in the middle of a turn), and they love to slam on the gas and accelerate as fast as possible, only to drive 5 MPH under the speed limit.
That said, I still trust them more than the average driver on the road. They just need to work out the kinks.