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Robotaxis felt like science fiction just a decade ago, but this year, autonomous vehicles became a commonplace option for paying passengers across big cities in the U.S. and parts of Asia. Alphabet -owned Waymo kept expanding and dominates the robotaxi market in the U.S., though rivals Tesla and Amazon -owned Zoox also launched the first versions of their services in 2025. Meanwhile, Baidu-owned Apollo Go dominated in China. Some parents are now sending teens to schools and activities in Waymos, and women often praise the privacy of these AVs versus rides with strangers who drive for ride-hailing and traditional taxi services. Waymo, in particular, has been so successful in its commercial expansion that Tesla CEO Elon Musk acknowledged his rival's achievements after previously criticizing the Google sister company. At Tesla's annual meeting on Nov. 6, Musk thanked Waymo for "paving the path here" when it comes to working out the regulatory approvals that allow robotaxi services to do business across much of the U.S. But driverless transportation has a long way to go before it becomes more mainstream. A survey by the American Automobile Association in early 2025 showed that 66% of drivers in the U.S. felt fearful and 25% felt uncertain about autonomous vehicles, reflecting the same consumer skepticism that AAA tracked with the survey in 2024. There have been rampant complaints about noise, congestion and the sometimes erratic driving behavior of robotaxis, along with economic concerns about the impact of AVs on travel and transportation workers. However, known harmful collisions caused by AVs have been relatively few so far, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA. Robotaxi fares are currently higher than alternatives today, according to Obi, which tracks ride-hail pricing data and compared Waymo to human-driven Uber and Lyft rides. Both safety records and costs per ride could change as AV fleets grow from hundreds to thousands of vehicles. With 2026 just around the corner, here's how the robotaxi market stands today.
Waymo driverless taxi parks in lower Manhattan in New York City, U.S., Nov. 26, 2025. Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Alphabet's Waymo keeps expanding
Furthest along in the robotaxi race is Waymo, which now serves rides to the public in five markets, up from three at the end of 2024. Looking ahead, the company is focused on "scaling up pretty aggressively," Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said. "Because this involves the physical world, the scale up will take a bit of time, but I think in the '27-'28 time frame, I think that Waymo will be meaningful in our financials," Pichai told employees at an all-hands meeting in November, according to audio obtained by CNBC. "I'm pretty excited about what's ahead there." Waymo's robotaxi service currently operates in the Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta and Los Angeles markets. Earlier this month, CNBC reported that Waymo crossed an estimated 450,000 weekly paid rides, and the company in December said it had served 14 million trips in 2025, putting it on pace to end the year at more than 20 million trips total since launching in 2020. Besides market expansion, Waymo in 2025 also hit key milestones. In July, the company announced it would be expanding its age range for eligible riders, offering accounts to teens ages 14 to 17, starting in Phoenix. And in November, Waymo began taking customers on freeway routes in the San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles markets, with plans to gradually extend freeway trips to more riders and locations over time. In recent weeks, the company made a flurry of announcements to further expand its territory in 2026. Waymo is now either operating its robotaxis, planning to launch service or starting to test its vehicles in 26 markets, in the U.S. and abroad. In 2026, Waymo plans to open service in Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego and Washington, D.C. The company also announced plans to launch its service in London in 2026, which will mark Waymo's first overseas service region.
Additionally, the company has begun testing vehicles in New York and Tokyo, two of the most dense cities in which Waymo has started driving. The company hasn't yet specified service launch timelines for those markets. Waymo is also eyeing expansion northward. The company has been testing its technology to ensure it can "navigate harsher weather conditions," Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher said. Markets like Denver and Detroit will let Alphabet see how its robotaxis fare against elements like freezing temperatures, blinding snow and icy roads. And in November, the company hired a new finance chief as it looks toward its next phase, which could include seeking additional outside investment. Alphabet doesn't break out Waymo's financials, but the company's "Other Bets" segment that includes the robotaxi division reported revenue of $344 million for the third quarter, down from $388 million the year prior. Losses grew from $1.12 billion last year in the third quarter to $1.43 billion in the same period this year. But as it looks ahead, Waymo faces challenges. Its rivals are making progress, and the company is beginning to contend with pushback from communities as some say the robotaxis are beginning to drive more aggressively. In San Francisco, a Waymo hit and killed a locally-known bodega cat in October, and another vehicle hit a small, unleashed dog in November. In Los Angeles, a Waymo drove through an active police standoff earlier this month. Waymo also issued a software recall for its vehicles after Texas officials said the robotaxis illegally passed school buses at least 19 times since the start of the school year, according to a Reuters report this month. The company issued the recall as part of its efforts to hold itself to the highest safety standards, Waymo's safety chief Mauricio Peña said in a statement. "We will continue analyzing our vehicles' performance and making necessary fixes as part of our commitment to continuous improvement," he said. Additionally, Waymo said that safety guides every development decision it makes, and its vehicles are designed to be safely assertive.
A Zoox robotaxi is seen driving on Nov. 19, 2025 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Amazon's Zoox gets rolling
Zoox revved up its robotaxi ambitions this year by opening up rides to the public in two markets. Founded in 2014 and acquired by Amazon for $1.3 billion in 2020, Zoox has set itself apart with its bespoke, toaster-shaped vehicles that have no steering wheel, mirrors or pedals and are equipped with "carriage-style," inward-facing seats. The company notched a milestone in September when it began offering public rides around the Las Vegas Strip before launching rides to select users in certain San Francisco neighborhoods in November. Currently, Zoox is dropping riders off at specific destinations in Las Vegas, but in San Francisco, it operates on a "point-to-point" basis more akin to Uber and Lyft. For now, rides in Zoox's electric shuttles are free. That's because the company still needs federal regulators to give it the green light to operate a paid service. The NHTSA granted Zoox an exemption in August that enables the company to demonstrate its purpose-built robotaxis on public roads, but it must obtain a separate exemption for commercial deployment. Zoox is planning to begin charging for rides in San Francisco and Las Vegas in 2026, pending regulatory approvals, co-founder Jesse Levinson told Fortune earlier this month.
More markets are also expected in 2026. Zoox plans to gradually expand its service area in San Francisco, and the company operates a fleet of retrofitted Toyota Highlander SUVs in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle and Washington, D.C. It's also preparing to begin testing its boxy robotaxis in Austin and Miami, Zoox spokesperson Marisa Wiggam said. But Zoox's rollout hasn't been without hiccups. The company issued a software recall in March for some of its test fleet to resolve a phantom braking issue that prompted a NHTSA investigation. Zoox also issued two voluntary software recalls in May after its robotaxi collided with an e-scooter rider in San Francisco and one of its vehicles was involved in a crash with a passenger car in Las Vegas. The Amazon subsidiary has deployed a fleet of 50 robotaxis between San Francisco and Las Vegas, but Zoox is preparing to scale up. In June, the company opened a 220,000-square-foot factory in the San Francisco Bay Area, where it aims to produce 10,000 vehicles a year once it's fully operational.
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