For over 15 years, Google Alphabet invested around €100 billion in its robotaxis project. Although the investment took time and money, it has paid off with autonomous cars becoming a common sight on streets worldwide. In cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, as well as Chinese cities Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, driverless cars are no longer a novelty but an everyday sight.
Most people drive by them without paying attention, while pedestrians feel safe crossing the street. Only tourists still find it impressive to see empty vehicles or delivery robots navigating through traffic with ease. Three Chinese rivals – Apollo, Pony.ai, and WeRide – have emerged as competitors to Waymo, Google’s autonomous car project. They quickly gained popularity in the US and China before expanding to Europe.
Waymo has been operating in five US cities and recently announced plans to expand to more cities, including London. Industry expert Patrick Pélata warns that the competition is heating up, making it a challenging market for local players to compete with these established autonomous car operators.
Source: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2025/12/06/robot-taxis-led-by-us-and-chinese-operators-spark-global-surge_6748209_19.html