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Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, SF and Phoenix

(techcrunch.com)
303 points nharada | 2 comments | 12 Nov 25 16:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.412s | source
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NullHypothesist ◴[12 Nov 25 16:24 UTC] No.45902077[source]▶
This is a huge sign of confidence that they think they can do this safely and at scale... Freeways might appear "easy" on the surface, but there are all sorts of long tail edge-cases that make them insanely tricky to do confidently without a driver. This will unlock a lot for them with all of the smaller US cities (where highways are essential) they've announced plans for over the next year or so.
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lumens ◴[12 Nov 25 17:14 UTC] No.45902757[source]▶
Perhaps more a reaction to pressure from Tesla; the latest FSD builds show full autonomy is coming very soon. Without highway driving, Waymo would quickly be seen as a distant second in the race when the safety driver is removed from Robotaxis in Austin (supposedly before EOY 2025).
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1. TulliusCicero ◴[12 Nov 25 22:36 UTC] No.45907845[source]▶
"Ignore the previous eighteen wildly off predictions; this time we got it for sure!"

Note, in July of this year, Musk predicted robotaxi service for half the country by the end of 2025. It's November now and they haven't even removed the safety monitors, in any city!

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2. dzhiurgis ◴[13 Nov 25 01:42 UTC] No.45909427[source]▶
> how dare they beta test this on public

> they haven't even removed safety drivers, loooosers!

Can't win either of you guys.