Back in October 2024, this blog addressed the prospect of “Artificial Intelligence in the Car”. Pretty well every day, we read of the impact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have on our lives. As computer and smart phone users we may see references to AI overviews in response to our search engine query as well as offers to view an AI summary of a long document. In the world of motoring, it is becoming evident that, at least in some parts of the world, AI adoption is moving very fast.

The October 2024 article focused on the novel approach adopted by Wayve and, in passing, mentioned some of the rival systems under development or already in use. One such system is Waymo, developed by Alphabet, the parent company of Google.

Waymo was launched in late 2023. It uses data from all those sensors mentioned in the 2024 article. This includes highly detailed mapping data of deployment areas, a process that defines the locations where the cars can be safely used. Currently, Waymo is operational in five cities in the USA with expansion plans for 2026 that include Miami, Denver and Washington DC.

Over those five cities, 250,000 paid trips are made in Waymo taxies every week. In San Francisco, Waymo is in competition with human-driven taxies including Uber and Lyft and the trend in consumer choice when looking for a preferred ride is most illuminating.

At a recent event, hosted by Wired.com, the chart above was presented by Azeem Azhar, a leading AI author and analyst. It illustrates just how fast AI technology, in a motoring context, can grow from a start-up to a point where it can grab a significant market share from established operators.

The sensor technology options used by Wayve and Tesla differ from Waymo, especially in the ability to operate away from areas covered by detailed digital maps. The combination of sensors that will eventually dominate to provide a safe and cost-effective integrated solution to the driverless vehicle remains an area for speculation. However, with the speed of adoption and customer preference already evident, that “Autonomous Pod” shown in the graphic, reproduced below from the October 2024 post, may come to dominate personal urban transportation a lot sooner than 2040.