News: 0185151236

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Waymo Is Expanding to Germany (yahoo.com)

(Tuesday August 25, 2026 @05:01PM (BeauHD) from the rolling-out dept.)


Waymo [1]plans to launch its robotaxi service in Munich by the end of 2027, marking the Google-owned company's [2]first expansion into the European Union . "It already operates in 11 cities in the United States and has [3]applied for a license in the United Kingdom to launch its robotaxis in London this year," notes Reuters. From the report:

> The Google subsidiary will start rolling out vehicles in the German city this year, which will be manually driven while the company "starts with high-definition mapping of local street networks" and testing with safety drivers, Waymo said in a statement.

>

> "Bavaria is determined to live up to its pioneering role and be an international leader in autonomous driving," Florian Herrmann, the head of the Bavarian state chancellery, said in the statement. "Now we need to move quickly from testing to real-world deployment."

>

> [...] German authorities gave autonomous vehicles the green light in 2021 to operate in the country in approved geographical areas. Other countries are looking at following suit, though the EU's broader autonomous driving rules are set by the U.N.



[1] https://waymo.com/blog/2026/08/waymo-in-munich/

[2] https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/waymo-begin-testing-autonomous-vehicles-153549776.html

[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/10/15/2239222/waymos-robotaxis-are-coming-to-london


Re: (Score:2)

by Powercntrl ( 458442 )

> the cars are driven by people in the Philippines sitting behind game like steering wheel and pedals

[1]I saw that in a movie once. [imgur.com]

[1] https://imgur.com/a/5eUyxpp

That must be a joke (Score:3)

by angel'o'sphere ( 80593 )

Not going to happen.

They are using "AI" as in artificial neural networks (ANN) to run their cars.

Hence there is no single requirement the car is supposed to follow, no issue tracker ticket, no line of code, no test, no review, no confirmation.

Hence: it does not formally fulfil any requirement to be allowed on a European street.

All European self driving cars: use standard algorithms, build on top of a specc, implemented and tested and reviewed - with *millions* of miles of save travel under supervision.

Re: (Score:2)

by backslashdot ( 95548 )

Never skip medication day.

PS> Waymo has millions of miles of safe autonomous driving in multiple cities with dense pedestrian and vehicle traffic that prove its safety: [1]https://waymo.com/safety/impac... [waymo.com]

[1] https://waymo.com/safety/impact/

Why the need? (Score:3)

by dskoll ( 99328 )

Now we need to move quickly from testing to real-world deployment.

Really? That is a need ? Why, what's the hurry?

You know another company that moved really quickly from testing to real-world deployment? OceanGate.

Re: (Score:3)

by Powercntrl ( 458442 )

> Why, what's the hurry?

Probably worried about competition from Tesla's Robotaxis.

Re: (Score:2)

by dskoll ( 99328 )

Hmm. I wonder how well robotaxis will do in the EU? I don't know about Munich, but most cities in the EU have decent public transit and a population that's not afraid of using it. And a lot of them have narrow and winding streets with lots of visual noise that is probably a bad environment for self-driving cars.

And they also have strong taxi unions (eg, Uber is mostly banned in Germany and where it does operate, it's more like a traditional taxi company.)

Re: (Score:2)

by backslashdot ( 95548 )

The only thing that can stop self driving cars is taxi unions, delivery drivers, basically people trying to preserve their jobs at the expense of lives lost. The technology itself works really well, and that's with all the obstacles and naysayers trying to block it before it even has a chance. If we evaluated based on what's the safest .. self driving car safety is miles ahead of any human ALREADY [1]https://waymo.com/safety/impac... [waymo.com] And that's with people actively trying to block it from getting developed. P

[1] https://waymo.com/safety/impact/

Re: (Score:2)

by dskoll ( 99328 )

I didn't comment on the safety of self-driving cars. I agree they probably are or will be safer than human-driven cars. If a Waymo gets confused in a small or confusing street, it'll probably just stop rather than crashing.

Now let's see the statistics for accidents per person-kilometre on public transit vs Waymos. I suspect public transit will come out ahead given that a bus can carry dozens of people and a train can carry hundreds.

Can they pass the knowledge of London? (Score:2)

by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 )

Can they pass the knowledge of London?

Re: (Score:2)

by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

> Can they pass the knowledge of London?

Can an internet-connected car look shit up?

Re: (Score:2)

by Locke2005 ( 849178 )

Do you believe EVERYTHING you read on the internet???

Re: Can they pass the knowledge of London? (Score:2)

by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

No, and I don't look everywhere either. Neither will the car.

The meek are contesting the will.