Waymo News Updates

At some point this year, Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo plans to roll out a ride-hailing service using driverless cars. It just bought more vehicles to make that happen.

An Uber Technologies Inc. security manager who was paid $4.5 million over his termination was derided by one of the company’s top internal lawyers as a thief and “extortionist” who made “fantastical” allegations of unethical conduct inside the company.

An Uber Technologies Inc. whistleblower made explosive allegations that a company team stole trade secrets to gain an edge over rivals, prompting a judge to further delay the ride-hailing company’s trial with Waymo.

What is a trade secret? That seemingly simple question dominated discussions Nov. 14 during a federal court hearing on Waymo vs. Uber, one of the last pretrial sessions before the case, which could shape the future of autonomous vehicles, heads to a jury on Dec 4.

For almost a decade, self-driving cars have graced public roads — but always with a person behind the wheel. Now Waymo is yanking the driver.

AutoNation Inc., the largest car-dealer group in the U.S., reached an agreement to maintain and help manage fleets for Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Alphabet Inc.

A bicyclist pedaled alongside the road and a pedestrian wandered into the crosswalk, as a self-driving minivan headed through a maze of roads in a desolate landscape. As the vehicle turned right, its steering wheel rotated above the empty driver’s seat.

Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo unit demonstrated a self-driving minivan with no one behind the wheel, declaring the vehicle as ready for public use.

The self-driving cars Google designed are going to the snow -- and the seat of the car industry.