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“Waymo Accelerates Driverless Expansion With Chicago and Charlotte Plans” 🚨🚨🚨

The robotaxi race is shifting into a higher gear.

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle unit of Alphabet, announced plans to expand its driverless ride-hailing service to Chicago and Charlotte, marking another step in what has become a noticeably faster national rollout.

As with previous launches, Waymo will begin with manual testing and high-definition mapping in both cities before transitioning to fully autonomous operations. Eventually, the company plans to introduce a public ride-hailing service. No official timeline has been given, but the cadence of new market entries suggests momentum is building.

From Slow Rollout to Rapid Expansion

Waymo launched its first fully driverless public service in Phoenix in 2020. For several years, expansion was cautious and methodical.

That pace has changed.

San Francisco became its second public market in 2024. Atlanta followed last summer. And just this year, Waymo rolled out service in five additional cities — including Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Orlando — though several of those markets are opening gradually on a rolling basis.

The service is now live in 10 U.S. markets, with another 20 cities in development. Internationally, Waymo is targeting a 2026 launch in London, signaling global ambitions.

Tesla Is Moving Too

Waymo’s biggest rival, Tesla, is also pushing forward.

Tesla is currently operating a limited fleet of vehicles in Austin without onboard safety monitors. In the Bay Area, it runs a larger supervised Full Self-Driving service. The company has indicated plans to expand into several additional U.S. cities in the first half of 2026.

But the approaches differ.

Waymo has leaned into fully driverless systems with no human backup in the vehicle across multiple cities. Tesla, meanwhile, continues to scale a hybrid strategy that blends supervised and unsupervised deployments.

The Bigger Picture

The rapid expansion signals growing confidence in autonomous driving technology — and intensifying competition in the robotaxi space.

With new cities coming online at a faster clip, 2026 could shape up to be a defining year in the race to dominate driverless transportation.

The rollout is no longer experimental. It’s operational.

And it’s accelerating.