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Waymo just unleashed its self-driving cars on Silicon Valley. The company's robotaxis now operate 24/7 across a 27-square-mile zone including Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and parts of Sunnyvale.
It's a homecoming of sorts. Waymo began here as Google's quirky self-driving experiment in 2009. Back then, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page dared their engineers to complete ten 100-mile autonomous routes. Those engineers delivered, probably fueled by a mix of caffeine and Silicon Valley optimism.
The rollout starts small. Only select locals with the right zip codes can summon these driverless chariots. Meanwhile, Waymo keeps expanding elsewhere - they've already partnered with Uber in Austin and plan to hit Atlanta next.
Chief Product Officer Saswat Panigrahi calls it a "special milestone." That's a modest way of saying they've come full circle: from testing secretive prototypes in Google's backyard to letting residents actually sleep through their commute.
Why this matters:
Silicon Valley finally gets to ride in the robots it created
The neighborhood that birthed self-driving cars now trusts them to drive its kids to soccer practice
Tech translator with German roots who fled to Silicon Valley chaos. Decodes startup noise from San Francisco. Launched implicator.ai to slice through AI's daily madness—crisp, clear, with Teutonic precision and sarcasm.
E-Mail: marcus@implicator.ai
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