While Waymo cites data showing its robotaxis crash far less often than human drivers, a TechCrunch investigation using OSHA records found that Waymo and Amazon-owned Zoox caused dozens of test-driver injuries like whiplash and sprains during 2026 training runs, often from abrupt braking or driving errors. The report notes OSHA's data is incomplete due to narrow reporting requirements, and injuries reportedly continued at Zoox through the year.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-22
Academics led by Eindhoven University's Pavlo Bazilinskyy are hosting an industry workshop this week focused on deterring passengers from having sex in autonomous vehicles, which lack a human driver to enforce norms. The team, drawing from systems engineering, psychology and tourism studies, is using the topic to explore broader questions about behavior and design in shared robotaxi spaces.
wired.com
· 2026-09-20
Lucid and ridesharing firm Bolt have announced a partnership to bring at least 25,000 autonomous vehicles built on Lucid's midsize platform to European roads, with Bolt owning and operating the fleet. Bolt aims to have 100,000 autonomous vehicles on its platform by 2035, though no launch timeline was given for the Lucid-based robotaxis, which will likely use NVIDIA's Hyperion architecture for Level 4 autonomy.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-17
Wayve, the self-driving software startup valued at roughly $8.5 billion, has named Elisa de Martel as its new chief financial officer. De Martel spent 2022 to January 2026 as Waymo's CFO, overseeing a period when the Alphabet unit expanded commercial operations and raised $5.6 billion at a $45 billion-plus valuation. She replaces Max Warburton, who is shifting to a strategic advisory role at Wayve.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-16
Tesla quietly opened its two-seater Cybercab robotaxi rides to the public in Austin on September 4, announcing it via a post on X rather than a livestreamed event. Analysts and investors said the low-key rollout offered scant detail, with the fleet still small and confined to a geofenced zone, while separate tests in New York required human drivers and steering wheels.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-15
Waymo has begun operating its self-driving taxis in Las Vegas, covering a 24-mile area around the Strip with plans to expand into Clark County. The service primarily uses Jaguar I-Pace-based Ojai electric minivans fitted with Waymo's sixth-generation autonomous driving hardware, following Nevada regulators' approval of an Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit last month.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-14
New research on both partial and full self-driving systems shows sharp safety gains. IIHS and Highway Loss Data Institute studies found automatic emergency braking and bundled ADAS features cut pedestrian crashes, rear-end collisions, and insurance claims by double-digit percentages. Waymo's own analysis of 20 million paid rides found a 92 percent drop in fatal or serious-injury crashes compared with human drivers.
spectrum.ieee.org
· 2026-09-08
Uber has begun operating the UK's first robotaxi service in London, using 15 Ford Mustang electric vehicles fitted with Wayve's autonomous driving technology. Each car currently requires a human safety driver ready to intervene, and rides cost the same as a standard UberX, Electric or Comfort trip. The self-driving option only appears in the app after booking, if a suitable vehicle is nearby.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-09-02
TechCrunch reporting found OSHA filings showing more than two dozen injuries among Waymo and Zoox test drivers in 2024 and 2025, many caused by hard braking or abrupt maneuvers of the autonomous vehicles. Some workers suffered whiplash and other injuries that kept them off the job for months.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-08-30
The Atlanta Rideshare Drivers Union says Uber and Lyft drivers have seen falling pay and longer waits since Waymo's robotaxis launched in the city last June. The group is asking city and state officials to impose a $0.50-$1.00 per-ride fee on robotaxi trips to fund driver retraining, and to bar Waymo vehicles from picking up passengers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Organizer Liza Ramsey admits there's no formal data yet, relying instead on driver-shared earnings screenshots as evidence.
futurism.com
· 2026-08-30
Reggie Overton, who calls himself a Tesla ambassador with no formal ties to the company, says a 2.3-mile Robotaxi trip in Austin gave wildly inconsistent arrival estimates ranging from 16 to over an hour. After multiple calls to support failed to fix the routing issue, he and his companion exited the vehicle and hailed an Uber instead. Tesla only issued a refund after his complaint went viral online.
futurism.com
· 2026-08-30
Business Insider reports that former Uber and Lyft drivers are now working at Waymo's robotaxi depots, handling tasks like cleaning, charging, and inspecting the self-driving vehicles. At Waymo's Lyft-run Nashville depot, workers such as Chauncy Thompson and Jonathan Baines say they prefer the steady hours and hands-on maintenance work to gig driving. Lyft plans to open another Nashville depot in October, staffing half its roles with former rideshare drivers.
futurism.com
· 2026-08-29
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