Autonomous Cars | The Verge

Waymo’s driverless cars continue to crash less often than people

2026-09-24T09:53:01-04:00

Waymo's latest batch of self-reported data continues to affirm the company's message that its driverless cars are safer than human drivers. As policymakers continue to debate the safety and economic impact of autonomous vehicles, Waymo is hoping that its own data will help bring more supporters to its side - even as some experts say the data fails to capture the non-crash traffic disruptions caused by its robotaxis.

Waymo said it examined 271 million driverless miles in five cities through the end of June, which is 50 million more miles than its last safety report. The total number of miles driven across Atlanta, Austin, Phoenix, Los Angele …

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Waymo is offering transit discounts again, this time with Visa

2026-09-22T09:35:27-04:00

Waymo has made several attempts over the years at offering transit discounts to its customers in the hopes of getting them to more frequently use the company's robotaxis to connect with a train or a bus. The Alphabet-owned company announced the latest effort today, teaming up with Visa to offer a discount on robotaxi rides when they use Waymo to connect with transit.

The new incentive is being rolled out first to customers in the San Francisco-Bay Area. When riders use a Visa credit card to take a Waymo trip and public transit within two hours of each other, the company will automatically put a $2.85 credit on their account that can be app …

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Waymo says Singapore will be its next international robotaxi city

2026-09-18T05:40:43-04:00

Waymo Ojai fully autonomous ride-hailing vehicle travels along a city street, San Francisco, California, August 20, 2026. | Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Waymo says it will launch a robotaxi service in Singapore in 2028, as the Alphabet-owned company continues to eye overseas markets for expansion.

Waymo's vehicles will begin arriving in Singapore in "the coming months," the company says, in preparation of mapping and autonomous testing with human safety drivers behind the wheel in 2027. Waymo says it is "working toward offering fully autonomous ride-hailing to the public" by 2028.

Waymo will need approval from Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) before it can begin accepting passengers. The city-state requires all autonomous vehicles to undergo a safety assessment conducted at the …

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Your robotaxi might be a narc

2026-09-17T10:57:54-04:00

In early September, two teenagers got into a Waymo, but then ended up in the back of a police car. The robotaxi company said it detected "a violation of our terms of service involving a firearm," pulled the car over, and alerted emergency services, according to the Los Angeles Times. Police arrested the passengers after allegedly finding a loaded AR-style "ghost gun" in the vehicle.

The arrests exposed a lot of unanswered questions about privacy and autonomous vehicles, including what they are recording, what they do with the footage, and how much privacy riders should expect while riding inside them.

Waymo's camera-covered cars have alre …

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Waymo pulls over, calls cops on riders with a ghost gun

2026-09-13T10:28:12-04:00

Two people were arrested in San Fransico while riding around in a Waymo robotaxi after the cab pulled over and called the cops on them. The riders were juveniles in possession of a loaded AR-style ghost gun and were taken to a juvenile hall. While the police report did not specify who was operating the autonomous car, Waymo later confirmed it was one of its vehicles to the Los Angeles Times.

A spokesperson told the LA Times that a "violation of our terms of service involving a firearm" was detected. At which point the car pulled over and alerted the authorities.

Earlier this year, a Waymo faked having mechanical problems to pull over when …

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I spent an hour riding inside Tesla’s steering-wheel-free Cybercab

2026-09-09T12:07:16-04:00

Getting out of a taxi shouldn't be a shameful experience. Yet I find myself feeling particularly embarrassed while exiting a Tesla Cybercab as it partially blocks a narrow road outside a popular Austin swimming hole. As a cadre of annoyed, sweaty Texan parking spot hunters pile up around it, the gold-painted two-seater just sits there obliviously, lights flashing. I try not to make eye contact, but I can feel the stares of frustrated pool-goers around me, whose earnest attempt at a peaceful outdoor reprieve from the heat had just been interrupted by yet another not-quite-finished glimpse into the future.

Tesla's long-awaited, two-seater Cy …

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Tesla Cybercab doesn’t have any manual controls — but it does have a virtual joystick

2026-09-08T12:15:59-04:00

The Tesla Cybercab is notable for what it lacks, namely a steering wheel and pedal. By design, there is no way for this vehicle to be manually controlled - or so we thought. Less than a week after the Cybercab was officially launched in Austin, Texas, some riders have discovered the Cybercab's secret manual controls that appears to be intended only for Tesla employees.

In at least two videos posted on X, Cybercab riders are encountering a virtual joystick that appears intended to control the vehicle's movements. A square-shaped screen appears in the lower left corner of the central display, with a toggle in the middle for manual driving. I …

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Robotaxis enter their villain era

2026-09-04T10:49:57-04:00

It's Bullitt meets Christine meets Waymo.

A new short film imagines a San Francisco car chase where the other driver isn't human - and the car may be trying to kill you. That a robotaxi can now be cast as the villain with almost no explanation says something about the present moment. Autonomous cars have gone from sci-fi curiosities to fixtures in some American cities, where they've become stand-ins for anxieties about AI job displacement, Big Tech surveillance, and machines making decisions once left to humans.

Road Rage, the planned short film awaiting $40,000 on Kickstarter to fund production, leans into all of it. The film pits Joa, a …

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Tesla Cybercab is barely on the road and it’s already under investigation

2026-09-04T10:32:05-04:00

Elon Musk's gilded robot car barely made it on public roads before federal regulators launched an investigation into the vehicle's lack of traditional features - many of which are required by law.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was opening an audit query (AQ) into the Tesla Cybercab "to examine the process and technical data on which Tesla relied when certifying the Cybercab and related issues." At issue is the absence of certain design features such as sideview mirrors, pedals, and steering wheel - all of which are required under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, or FMVSS.

"Among other things, NHTSA …

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The unusually muted Tesla Cybercab launch

2026-09-07T14:18:39-04:00

At a private, closed-door event in Austin, Texas today, Tesla officially launched its gilded car of the future: the Cybercab. It's a huge milestone for Elon Musk, who has been hyping the imminent arrival of driverless cars for years and has bet the future of his company on AI, autonomous vehicles, and humanoid robots.

It was an unusually muted event, with no livestream, no journalists, and a very short invite list comprised mostly of pro-Tesla content creators. Elon Musk wasn't even there, which was especially strange given the years he's spent hyping Tesla as a leader in AI and robotics. The Tesla influencers who were planning live shows w …

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