Waymo removes safe drivers in Miami ahead of launch in 2026

Waymo is removing safety operators from its fleet of robotaxis in Miami starting today, ahead of a commercial launch in 2026, the latest in a long line of steps taken this year to expand its footprint nationwide.

The company said in a Blog post On Tuesday, it will begin offering fully autonomous rides to employees in Miami. Waymo said it will do the same over the next few weeks in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando.

This latest move comes just one week after Waymo’s announcement Great milestone: Now offering paid rides on freeways in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix. This year also saw Waymo launch in Atlanta and Austin with big-name partners like Uber, launching a service Corporate travel program.

Waymo isn’t the only company trying to expand its robotaxi service in the United States. Zoox is owned by Amazon It was announced earlier Tuesday morning It’s about to start offering free rides in purpose-built robotaxis to members of San Francisco’s First Riders program. (I did same In Las Vegas in September).

Meanwhile, Tesla has been trialling its own service in Austin for a few months. Sometime this year, CEO Elon Musk tried to claim that Tesla’s robotaxi service would be available to half the country by the end of 2025. So far, his company’s cars still have safety operators in the driver’s seats.

Amid all this potential competition, Waymo is acting with great confidence.

“Not only did we build the technology, we developed the ultimate playbook for operating self-driving fleets, across dozens of locations, and providing industry-leading passenger support,” the company wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.

It will need that confidence as it heads into 2026, which is expected to be an even bigger year than 2025. In addition to the five cities mentioned above, Waymo Plans To begin offering flights in Detroit, Las Vegas and San Diego, nashvilleand London. And the company too Testing in New York CityHe has permission to keep this until at least the end of the year.

“By the end of 2026, you should expect us to be offering 1 million rides per week,” co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana told TechCrunch Disrupt last month.

However, Waymo’s expansion has not been without its drawbacks. The company’s technology is being developed Inspected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after one of its vehicles was photographed in Atlanta turning in front of a parked school bus.