Waymo Pulls Resources From Autonomous Truck Development
In a blog post, Waymo co-CEOs Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov announced plans to focus primarily on the Waymo One robotaxi fleet and to put autonomous truck development Waymo Via on hold. This is not expected to affect the collaboration with Daimler Truck North America, with whom they will continue to work on the development of an autonomous platform.
However, the majority of employees have already been moved to Waymo Via. The reason for the increased focus on robotaxis could be the upcoming decision by the California Public Utility Company (PUC) to lift the previously existing restrictions on robotaxi services. In recent weeks, several dates had already been set but postponed due to further negotiations with stakeholders. With the lifting of the limitations, the launch of Waymo One could be tackled in several Californian cities at once.
This article was also published in German.
