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Tech News
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.
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.
Waymo has started letting select members of the public hail rides from its self-driving fleet in Las Vegas, weeks after Nevada regulators granted final approval. The service launches with dozens of its new Ojai minivans covering part of the Strip and Boulder Junction, with riders needing an access code before wider rollout in coming months.
Lyft riders in Nashville can now be matched with a driverless Waymo vehicle through the Lyft app, or book directly through Waymo's own app. Lyft's subsidiary Flexdrive manages fleet readiness, maintenance, depot operations and infrastructure for the partnership, marking the first time Lyft has offered a fully driverless commercial ride without a safety operator behind the wheel.
Waymo's in-cabin sensors flagged two juvenile passengers handling a loaded AR-style firearm in San Francisco's Outer Richmond neighborhood, prompting the company to notify police. Officers conducted a high-risk stop early on September 3, arresting the pair and also finding suspected marijuana and mace spray in the vehicle.
A Waymo self-driving vehicle in San Francisco detected a firearm violation among its passengers and pulled over, prompting a call to police. Officers arrested two juvenile riders found with a loaded AR-style ghost gun and took them to juvenile hall. Waymo confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that its system flagged the terms-of-service breach involving a weapon before stopping the car.
Austin Fire Department Chief Matthew McElearney told NBC that Tesla's Cybercab, which relies on a touchscreen instead of a steering wheel for manual control, could hinder first responders trying to move the vehicle during emergencies. He noted the touchscreen requires power, training, and precision, which may not be feasible if responders are wearing gloves, covered in dust or sweat, or if the car is damaged.
In an essay, Holtzbrinck Group's Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Hook recounts riding in a driverless Waymo in San Francisco with Macmillan Learning CEO Susan Winslow, and how both admitted they preferred the silent, frictionless ride to the small talk of a human driver. He uses the anecdote to argue that similarly 'frictionless' AI tools may be quietly eroding the incidental human contact that drives collaboration in research.
Amazon-owned Zoox is offering free rides in a fleet of about 100 purpose-built robotaxis in San Francisco, using a Rider Lounge and partnerships with local restaurants and landmarks to build public awareness. The company still lacks permission to charge passengers in California, so it's using free trips to establish a presence against Waymo, which operates nearly 4,000 vehicles in the city.
Uber cut about 3,300 corporate jobs last week, roughly 10% of its corporate workforce, in its largest reduction since the pandemic. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference that savings from the cuts and reduced insurance costs would be reinvested, including lowering fares for riders, while more than $1 billion is earmarked for Uber's self-driving car efforts.
Lyft has launched Waymo robotaxi access in Nashville, marking the first city where Waymo vehicles appear on both the Lyft and Waymo apps simultaneously. Riders requesting Standard, Priority Pickup, Wait & Save or Extra Comfort trips may be matched with a driverless Waymo car, provided both pickup and drop-off fall within a designated central Nashville zone covering areas like Downtown, East Nashville and Midtown.
Lyft has begun integrating Waymo's self-driving vehicles into its ride-hail app in Nashville, marking the first time it has partnered with a major autonomous vehicle company rather than smaller AV startups. Instead of removing human drivers entirely, Lyft is shifting some of its Flexdrive rental-service workers into roles cleaning, repairing, and positioning the Waymo vehicles at a depot ahead of an 80,000-square-foot facility opening in October.