Waymo Increases Rhythm: Videos From Early-Rider-Program Appear

Until recently, Waymo has been very restrictive with announcements and videos from the Early Rider program zurück. Several hundred residents in Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix in Arizona, have been testing Waymo’s robotaxi service starting last year. Only few journalists got access and could record videos from the inside of the cars.

But now we see videos popping up on Waymo’s official Twitter account, almost in a daily rhythm, showing videos from Waymo but also some made by Early Riders.

Here is a video showing an Early Rider exiting the car after his first ride without a safety driver on the driver seat. Also pay attention to the shrieks of the female resident, after she sees the empty car driving off by itself.

Here is a video from the inside, which is occupied by three residents. Videos like that were not available so far, because apparently the NDAs they had to sign to participate in the closed Early-Rider-program prohibited them from recording and posting such videos and photos.

The increasing pace of those videos and other messages coming from Waymo and others are signals that a launch of Waymo’s robotaxi service for a broader public may be imminent.

This article has also been published in German.