Waymo, the Alphabet-owned company has given hints about its international expansion through the announcement of testing robotaxis in Japan. According to a recent announcement, Waymo will start experimenting with its autonomous vehicles in Japan in early 2025. Although the company has not confirmed any plans for commercialization, the recent announcements suggest that Waymo is planning to expand its territory outside the United States. Partnered with the taxi operator Nihon Kotsu and taxi-hailing app GO, the autonomous vehicle testing of Waymo will be a major step towards popularizing robotaxis in Japan.
Waymo to introduce robotaxis in Japan
In their latest announcement, Alphabet-owned Waymo declared that they will be testing autonomous vehicles in Japan very soon. According to the current reports, the first stage of the test will take place in early 2025 in Japan’s capital city, Tokyo. With this new initiative, Waymo, a company that has been working exclusively in the United States is slowly taking baby steps into the international domain. Although Waymo has not commented on whether they are planning to start commercial service in Tokyo, they are planning to team up with the giants in Japan’s taxi services.
According to the available information, Waymo will collaborate with Japan’s largest taxi operator, Nihon Kotsu and taxi app GO during the testing of their autonomous vehicles on Tokyo’s streets. So, with the right partners, Waymo’s Jaguar I-PACE vehicles are getting ready to hit Japan’s popular streets.
Initially, Waymo is considering collecting data about the nuances of Japanese driving techniques, left-hand traffic, and navigating in an urban, crowded environment. As an initial step, Waymo considers it as a “road trip” to Japan to collect necessary information. So, in this stage, the taxis will be driven manually by the local taxi fleet operator, Nihon Kotsu. The major purpose of this testing is to collect mapping data for further AI uses. The Waymo officials have shared that they will begin this project with 25 vehicles, at the beginning of next year.
Operated by Nihon Kotsu, these vehicles will geofence to a couple of neighborhoods in Tokyo including Minato, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Chiyoda, Shinagawa, Koto, and Chuo. the data collected from these test drives will be used to feed the company’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. However, the next stages of the test drives will be carried out in the US.
Is Waymo expanding its territory by initiating commercial services in Tokyo?
The recent advancements and trial plans hint that Waymo is planning to expand its commercial services to Japan. However, the officials are not ready to reveal further details about their recent decision. Waymo’s spokesperson Sandy Karp notes that although they have plans to expand the life-saving benefits of Waymo drivers globally, they are not planning to serve riders in Tokyo. However, they are trying to learn how their technology fits into existing transportation landscapes. They also aim to learn how to collaborate with local officials and communities to expand their services.
The collaboration with the Tokyo’s taxi app GO denotes the same. This strategic partnership will help Waymo work with Japan’s local officials and build their autonomous vehicle services through a locally based mobile provider. This is not the first time Waymo has tried it. The company has been collaborating with Uber’s ride-hail app in Austin and Atlanta.
According to the Waymo spokesperson, they are not planning to expand their commercial service to other countries as their robotaxi business is growing slowly in the United States, with approximately 700 vehicles in different cities. Some of these cities include San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, and Phoenix. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet shared that these 700 taxis provide around 175,000 paid trips every week.
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Are more companies interested in robotaxis?
Robotaxis has been a major topic of discussion in recent days. Along with Waymo, several other companies have shown interest in this field. From General Motors to Nisan, several developers have come up with the ideas of robotaxis. The recent update of Waymo was released a week after the updates from General Motors. In its recent statement, it noted that General Motors is abandoning its Cruise Robotaxi division. Honda has also arrived with a similar statement. Although it had plans to launch driverless ride-hail services in Japan by early 2026, Honda has decided to put that decision on halt. The officials of Honda noted that they will re-assess their decision and make necessary readjustments if required.
Furthermore, Monet Technologies, a company partially owned by Toyota has announced its plans to test its self-driving taxi service in the Odaiba district in Tokyo. Apart from these established firms, local startups Tier IV and ZMP are also working on developing autonomous vehicles including delivery vehicles and buses in Tokyo. However, the backing of several major companies from their Robotaxi projects develops concerns about this expensive project and its success.
