Overview
Convergence of AI, LiDAR, computer vision and edge computing to reach full autonomy. Robotaxis, autonomous trucks, delivery drones.
Impact: Automated mobility and logistics, constrained by safety and regulation
Projects
Active
Waymo — the commercial robotaxi at scale
Waymo
More than 500,000 paid rides per week, a figure published by Alphabet in April 2026, across more than 1,400 square miles as of May. Freeway rides, restricted in the spring after a recall, are again offered in four markets, with still-limited access.
Driverless commercial service in more than ten US cities, opened in stages: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando moved to invite-only service on February 24, 2026, Miami and Orlando opened to everyone in April, Dallas on August 4. Freeway driving, offered to passengers since November 2025, was restricted after seven vehicles entered work-zone lanes in the San Francisco Bay Area on May 18, 2026, then became the subject of a recall of 3,871 fifth-generation driving systems, fixed via software from June 16. The Ojai vehicle, the first to carry the sixth generation of the Waymo Driver, has been carrying public passengers since May 28, 2026, initially on free rides in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles. The service covers Phoenix Sky Harbor and San Jose airports, and San Francisco's on a limited basis, at the rental car center curb only.
- Robotaxi
- AI perception
- In-house LiDAR
- Freeways and airports
Roadmap: One million rides per week and more than twenty additional cities
2026
Tesla — Robotaxi and FSD (Supervised) v14
Tesla
The Cybercab entered production at Gigafactory Texas in the second quarter of 2026, but is not yet deployed in the Robotaxi fleet. 1.48 million active FSD subscriptions.
Pure vision approach, no lidar. FSD (Supervised) v14.3 since April 2026, complemented by a lighter version for AI3 hardware. The Robotaxi service is declared active in seven US metro areas: the ramp-up with no onboard operator covers Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa, while the San Francisco Bay Area is still operated in FSD (Supervised) with a safety driver, under a California charter-party carrier license.
- Vision only
- End-to-end neural network
- Robotaxi fleet
- Cybercab
Roadmap: Cybercab deployment in the Robotaxi fleet
Non daté
Aurora Innovation — the driverless trucks of the Sun Belt
Aurora Innovation
Second generation of the Aurora Driver launched in July 2026 on the International LT Series platform, with a lidar reaching one kilometer — more than 34 seconds of reaction time at highway speed.
Class 8 trucks with no one on board. Commercial service opened in April 2025 on the Dallas-Houston corridor — announced May 1, the first of its kind on public roads; since February 2026 it covers ten Sun Belt routes. Night operations have been in hand since July 2025, driving in rain, fog and strong winds since February 2026. Around 440,000 driverless miles as of June 30, 2026, with no collision attributed to the Aurora Driver.
- L4 trucks
- Long-haul freight
- Multi-sensor fusion
- FirstLight lidar
Roadmap: 200 driverless trucks in service
2026