Waymo is broadening its self-driving vehicle testing to more than 10 new cities this year, reflecting growing confidence in its autonomous driving technology.
The expansion will include testing in San Diego and Las Vegas, alongside existing trials in Truckee, CA, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Upstate New York and Tokyo. Additional cities will be announced later, the company said.
A Waymo spokeswoman said the company will send a limited fleet of vehicles to each city, where trained human autonomous specialists will be behind the wheel at all times.
Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, plans to deploy fewer than 10 vehicles per city, initially operating them manually through high-traffic areas such as city centers and freeways. The process will span a few months before progressing to more advanced autonomous testing.
The move comes as Waymo continues expanding its ride-hailing services, with Miami recently added to its operational network. However, the company remains under scrutiny from safety regulators following incidents involving autonomous vehicles.
In October, Waymo secured $5.6 billion in funding, backed by Alphabet, to accelerate the growth of its autonomous ride-hailing business.
