With a top rival reeling, the self-driving car unit launched by Google has announced a massive expansion.
Waymo said it would partner with Jaguar Land Rover to design an electric self-driving vehicle. Up to 20,000 of the new cars would join a driverless transportation service Waymo plans to launch later this year.
“This is the self-driving car that car lovers have been looking for”, Waymo CEO John Krafcik said at a press conference, adding it would offer “a safe and delightful experience for our passengers”.
The company has already sent self-driving cars ferrying passengers around the Phoenix, Arizona area, and last year took a significant step by deploying autonomous cars there without human backup drivers.
By joining forces with a legacy car manufacturer, Google intensified its efforts to dominate the emerging autonomous vehicle industry - and effectively issued a challenge to top competitor Uber, whose self-driving car initiative is beset by crisis.
Days before Waymo unveiled the new initiative, a woman crossing the street in Arizona was killed by an autonomous vehicle operated by Uber, believed to be the first such death. Uber has suspended its self-driving car tests in response and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has barred the company from operating autonomous cars on the state's roads.
“I found the video to be disturbing and alarming, and it raises many questions about the ability of Uber to continue testing in Arizona,” Ducey wrote in a letter to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi after Tempe police released footage of the crash.
Authorities are still investigating the incident and have not assigned blame.
Like Waymo, Uber envisions using self-driving cars to bolster its ride-hailing service.
Those ambitions have set the companies against each other. They recently reaching a settlement in a trade secrets lawsuit that turned on Waymo’s allegations that Uber had stolen crucial technology.
