Overview
- Access begins for select app users in the four cities with invitations rolling out before broader availability later in 2026.
- Waymo operates roughly 3,000 robotaxis and is targeting over one million weekly rides by year-end after a $16 billion raise that valued the company at about $126 billion.
- Early operations use dozens of Jaguar I‑PACE vehicles with Waymo’s fifth‑generation system across zones of roughly 25 to 60 square miles, including about 50 square miles in Dallas and an initial area inside Houston’s I‑610 Loop.
- Federal scrutiny continues after a January incident in which a robotaxi struck a child in Santa Monica and separate reviews of school‑bus interactions, following a December software recall affecting more than 3,000 vehicles.
- Operational practices face pushback, including cameras remaining on while parked, San Antonio complaints and a reported cat fatality, reliance on about 70 remote‑assistance staff with roughly half in the Philippines, and policy setbacks in New York with driverless rides barred in Chicago for now.