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Tech News
Waymo introduced a transit rewards program in the San Francisco Bay Area that gives riders Waymo Cash when they link a Visa card and combine Waymo rides with public transit trips. The program starts with employees before a public rollout in coming weeks, and covers all 27 Bay Area transit agencies that accept contactless Visa tap-to-pay.
Waymo is expanding its teen account program, launched in Phoenix last year, to Nashville, letting riders aged 13-17 use its robotaxis with a parent or guardian linked to the account. Teens can hail rides anywhere within Waymo's Nashville service area and bring up to three friends aged 13-17 along. A company spokesperson said this is the first of many such launches planned across additional markets in coming months.
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.
Waymo has launched a new incentive program with Visa that credits riders $2.85 toward future robotaxi trips when they use a Visa card to pay for both a Waymo ride and public transit within a two-hour window. The pilot starts in the San Francisco-Bay Area and builds on earlier standalone tests Waymo ran in San Francisco and Los Angeles, but this version relies on Visa's payment data to verify qualifying trips automatically.
A Waymo robotaxi drove into the South Pearl Street Farmers Market in Denver on September 20, about 20 minutes before vendors were set to open, after barricades had been temporarily moved aside to let vendor vehicles through during setup. Market staff scrambled to stop the driverless car and clear its path, though no injuries occurred and organizers said it wasn't moving recklessly. Waymo says its system recognized the situation and steered itself back out, while the city plans to work with the company on protocols for future incidents.
The Vergecast's David Imel and Allison Johnson examined Apple's iPhone 18 Pro camera system, highlighting its new variable aperture main lens designed for better low-light and depth-of-field control. They concluded that the camera app's manual controls, revamped imaging pipeline, and improved ProRAW support are proving more practically useful day-to-day than the aperture hardware itself.
Waymo's in-cabin monitoring system flagged a terms-of-service violation involving a weapon during an early-morning ride in San Francisco's Richmond District, prompting the company to pull the vehicle over and call emergency services. Police conducted a high-risk stop and found a homemade 'ghost gun' styled like an assault rifle, along with suspected marijuana and mace, leading to the arrest of two unnamed minors on firearm possession charges.
Waymo announced plans to bring its autonomous vehicles to Singapore, marking its expansion beyond the US and into a second Asian market after Tokyo. Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will arrive soon so specialists can manually drive and map Singapore's roads throughout 2027, adjusting Waymo's systems for local road layouts and weather before public rides begin via its app in 2028.
Waymo has started manually driving and mapping all regions of Singapore around the clock, gathering data it needs to seek approval from the Land Transport Authority for autonomous operations by 2027. Initial runs will use human specialists behind the wheel, with the company promising public notice before shifting to autonomous-specialist and eventually fully driverless operations. Data collected will be handled under Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act and Waymo's own privacy policy.
Waymo announced plans to bring its autonomous ride-hailing service to Singapore, with vehicles arriving within months to begin mapping and safety-driver testing in 2027 ahead of a public launch in 2028. The company must first pass safety assessments from Singapore's Land Transport Authority and its CETRAN testing center before carrying passengers, and it has already set up a local entity and joined the city-state's autonomous vehicle steering committee.
Waymo has relaunched paid robotaxi service in San Antonio five months after several of its vehicles got stuck in an April flash flood, with one car swept away by rising water. The company says it updated its software to better detect and avoid standing water, and will now operate dozens of vehicles across a 60-mile zone covering downtown and the airport.
Waymo says its robotaxi detected a terms-of-service violation involving a firearm, pulled over, and alerted emergency responders, leading police to arrest two teenagers after allegedly finding a loaded AR-style ghost gun inside the car. The incident adds to a growing list of episodes where Waymo vehicles have supplied footage or triggered law enforcement action, including hit-and-run evidence and protest surveillance concerns.