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Waymo is expanding its autonomous vehicle testing to Tokyo, marking its first international deployment. This initiative is in partnership with local taxi operators and is part of Waymo’s “road trips” program. The tests will focus on mapping key areas of Tokyo and assessing the performance of their AI systems in a new and complex urban environment. The move signifies a major step for Waymo in their global expansion plans and the challenges of adapting self-driving technology for diverse international markets.

Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are shown to be safer than human-driven vehicles based on a study with Swiss Re, a major insurance company. The study found a 92% reduction in bodily injury claims and a significant decrease in property damage claims when comparing Waymo’s autonomous driving data with traditional vehicles. The research analyzed 25.3 million fully autonomous miles, highlighting the safety benefits of self-driving technology.

Waymo has opened its driverless robotaxi service to everyone in Los Angeles. This marks a significant milestone in the evolution of self-driving car technology, as Waymo has been working on its autonomous vehicle project for 15 years. The robotaxi service is now available across 80 square miles of Los Angeles County, including areas like Hollywood, Chinatown, and Westwood. Waymo has dropped the waitlist for residents in the area, meaning anyone with the Waymo One app can now book a ride in one of its driverless cars. Waymo is expanding its service area in the future to encompass all five counties in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The company says that it has completed “hundreds of thousands of paid trips” in the city and that its driverless rides have a 4.7-star rating out of five.