Waymo To Laser Focus On Ride-Hailing, Halt Alternate Development Plans

Alphabet Inc‘s GOOG GOOGL autonomous driving technology unit Waymo said on Wednesday that it will focus all its efforts and investment on ride-hailing instead of trucking.

What Happened: Waymo aims to develop autonomous driving technology for multiple commercial applications including ride-hailing, trucking, local delivery, and personal car ownership. 

However, it will now focus on ride-hailing alone given the substantial commercial opportunity, the company said in a statement. The timeline for efforts on trucking will be pushed back as the company focuses on achieving commercial success for its ride-hailing business, it added.

“We continue to see a significant future commercial opportunity for our trucking solution alongside other commercial applications of the Waymo Driver,” the company said while adding that it will continue the technical development of an autonomous truck platform with its partner Daimler Truck North America.

Why It Matters: According to Waymo, it is seeing significant growth and rider demand across San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

“Laser-focusing on ride-hailing today puts us, our partners, and our customers in a strong position to be successful in the future across all of the business lines we pursue over time,” it said.

In May, Waymo also announced a multi-year partnership with Uber Technologies UBER which will enable users to hail an autonomous Waymo ride via Uber app in Phoenix starting later this year.]

Photo Courtesy: Sundry Photography On Shutterstock.com

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