GOOG Alphabet Inc

By Josh Beckerman

Waymo plans to provide fully driverless rides to the general public in the Phoenix East Valley area.

The Alphabet Inc. unit already offers the Waymo One ride-hailing service, with safety operators present in the self-driving vehicles. Some customers participated in a early rider program that required a confidentiality agreement.

Waymo said in a Thursday blog post that as technology improved, it "increased the scope and quantity of our operations, with 5-10% of our rides in 2020 being fully driverless for our exclusive group of early riders under NDA."

In the near term, "100% of our rides will be fully driverless." Later this year, after it adds safety barriers, Waymo will re-introduce rides with vehicle operators, "which will add capacity and allow us to serve a larger geographical area."

In March, Waymo said it raised $2.25 billion led by Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Mubadala Investment Co., marking its first outside funding.

Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 08, 2020 18:10 ET (22:10 GMT)

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