Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis to extend its U.S. lead

Waymo said Thursday that it has begun using its sixth-generation driverless system to provide robotaxi rides for employees at its Ojai vehicles, which use the base model made by Chinese automaker Geely.

Waymo aims to expand its lead in the US and attract loyal passengers by improving its driverless technologies and adding more vehicles to its fleet. AlphabetThe sixth-generation Waymo Drive uses more cost-effective parts and should be able to navigate harsher weather conditions than previous generations, the company owns.

The new system will serve as the “main engine for our next era of expansion,” Waymo Vice President of Engineering Satish Jeyachandran said in a statement.

Waymo offers its own service Ojai rides are first available to employees and their guests in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, then gradually expanded to new cities, with the goal of opening to public riders later this year.

The deployment of Waymo’s next-generation robotaxi comes as the company looks to expand its leadership in the United States. Testing and planning of business operations abroad.

Waymo currently offers fully autonomous robotaxi service in six U.S. markets and plans to launch the service in London later this year. Including potential competitors AmazonOwned by Zoox and Tesla’sIt is testing its driverless systems in the United States but does not yet offer driverless ride-hailing services on a wide scale.

Chinese robotaxi companies, including Baidu-owned Apollo Go and WeRide, are expanding abroad faster than Waymo. The global market for driverless ride-hailing has significant potential, possibly being worth more than $25 billion by 2030, according to estimates by Goldman Sachs in May last year.

Waymo’s decision to use Chinese electric vehicles in its U.S. fleet has raised concerns from GOP lawmakers.

“We’re locked in a race with China, but it looks like you’re getting into bed with China,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told Waymo’s security chief. committee hearing last week

Spokesperson Sandy Karp told CNBC that Waymo will not provide Zeekr with “any access to closely held autonomous driving technology, sensor data or driver information.” The Chinese automaker, a subsidiary of Geely, is responsible for providing “essential vehicles” and Waymo is installing its autonomous driving technology into cars in the US

The company’s sixth-generation systems will also work with robotaxis built on the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Waymo’s existing Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will continue to run on fifth-generation systems.

“We have consistently operated mixed fleets for years, including when we transitioned from the 4th generation Drive in the Pacifica to the 5th generation Drive in the I-PACE,” Karp said in an email. he said.

The Ojai is a smaller ride, with a lower step and higher roof than Waymo’s existing robot axis, but it has about the same footprint as the Jaguar I-PACE.

Alphabet’s “Other Bets” division, which includes Waymo reported The loss increased from $4.44 billion in 2024 to $7.51 billion in 2025. Last week, Waymo announced that it had raised a $16 billion financing round led by Alphabet, valuing the company at $126 billion.

Waymo’s robotaxi service currently operates in the Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Miami markets and launched in January. The company plans to open in Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego and Washington in 2026. It also plans to expand into London, its first international market.

As it expands, Waymo’s vehicles must be able to withstand harsher weather conditions, especially in northeastern cities.

The company has been testing the sixth generation system on public roads since 2024, when it was first announced. The company said the new system has a better view than its predecessors due to improved lidar and radar systems.

“Our 6th generation lidar benefits from the significant cost reductions the industry has seen over the past five years, particularly as affordable lidar increasingly appears in consumer vehicles,” Jeyachandran said. he said.

The new generation 17-megapixel imager, which the company calls “a breakthrough in automotive vision technology”, allows the system to see around the vehicle with fewer cameras. Jeyachandran added that new in-house algorithms help improve performance in rain or snow.

“A vision system that is reliable in inclement weather needs to keep itself clear,” Jeyachandran said. “While cameras in conventional cars struggle with raindrops, road grime and ice, our system features integrated cleaning systems to maintain visibility.”