Alphabet’s Waymo Cleared To Launch Robotaxi Ride Hailing In San Jose: Retail’s Unmoved

Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOG, GOOGL) robotaxi unit Waymo said on Monday that it has received approval to operate its commercial ride-hailing service in South Bay, California and nearly all of San Jose.

The company announced the approval from the California Public Utilities Commission in a post on X.

Waymo said that it won’t change its operations in the near-term but looks forward to offering its service in more of the Bay Area in the future.

The company also said on Monday that riders in Atlanta will get to ride with Waymo robotaxis on Uber Technologies Inc.’s app starting this week.

Waymo currently operates over 1,500 robotaxis in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin and provides more than 250,000 paid trips each week. The company is also eyeing launching its robotaxi service in Washington, D.C., and Miami in 2026.

However, last week, the company recalled 1,212 of its vehicles, citing concerns about potential collision with certain roadway barriers like chains or gates. The company fixed the issue via a software update.

Earlier this month, the company also announced that it is investing in American manufacturing. With its partner Magna, it will build a new autonomous vehicle factory in Metro Phoenix, where it will build thousands of Jaguar I-PACE vehicles equipped with its fully autonomous technology.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Alphabet stayed unmoved within the ‘neutral’ territory over the past 24 hours while message volume fell from ‘normal’ to ‘low’ levels.

GOOG stock is down by about 12% this year and by about 6% over the past 12 months.

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