TL;DR
Waymo has scaled to roughly 4,000 robotaxis across 15 U.S. cities, but the real story is a 49% fleet surge in Texas over three weeks, powered by a Chinese-built minivan that is redefining how fast the company can grow.
What happened
- ~4,000 Waymo robotaxis are now operating commercially, up from a three-city footprint in September 2024 to 15 U.S. cities today.
- 500,000 paid rides per week is the current ridership average, a figure that reflects rapid consumer adoption.
- 80% of the fleet is concentrated in California and Texas, with the remaining ~800 vehicles spread across Arizona, Florida, and newer markets.
- Texas fleet jumped 49% in three weeks, reaching 1,102 registered autonomous vehicles as of September 24, driven by an influx of the new Ojai minivan.
- The Ojai is a modified Zeekr RT built by Geely in China, stripped of Chinese connected-car tech, then fitted with Waymo's sixth-generation self-driving system at an Arizona factory.
Why it matters
- Texas is now the growth engine: Austin launched via Uber in March 2025, and Waymo has since added Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, making the state a proving ground for mass-scale deployment.
- The Ojai minivan is Waymo's cost-reduction bet: its ruggedized interior, upgraded rider interface, and onboard Google Gemini AI are designed to lower per-ride economics and push toward profitability.
- Tariffs are a real headwind: Chinese-built vehicles face steep U.S. import duties, eroding the savings the Ojai was supposed to deliver, yet Waymo is absorbing the cost anyway.
- Research firm MoffettNathanson projects 5,100 Ojai imports by year-end, signaling Waymo is treating tariff pain as a short-term cost of locking in scale before competitors.
- The Uber partnership model in Texas shows Waymo is willing to share demand infrastructure rather than build its own app audience from scratch in new markets.
What to watch next
- Florida and Las Vegas fleet counts: both markets are flagged as next destinations for Ojai deployments; registration data will confirm whether the Texas surge is a template or a one-off.
- Tariff policy shifts: any reduction in Chinese vehicle import duties would immediately improve Waymo's unit economics and could accelerate the Ojai rollout timeline.
- Profitability signals from Alphabet: with 5,100 Ojais potentially on U.S. roads by January, the next Alphabet earnings call should offer the clearest read yet on whether robotaxi revenue is closing the gap with operating costs.
Originally published on Present of AI, a daily source-linked AI news timeline. Read the full timeline or browse the open dataset.