Latest news with #Waymos
The Verge
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Verge
Waymo introduces teen accounts for the first time in Phoenix
Waymo is opening up its robotaxi service to younger riders with the launch of teen accounts in Phoenix. Teenagers aged 14–17 can now sign up for an account on Waymo One, the company's ridehail service. The account will be linked to their parent or guardian, but approved teens will be allowed to ride independently without an adult. Waymo's current terms of service bar unaccompanied minors under 18 from using its robotaxis — even though some parents in San Francisco have already been sending their kids to ride solo in Waymos for some time. It's a big bet by the company that parents will trust its driverless cars enough to send their children alone to ride in them. In some ways, the move mirrors Uber's decision a few years ago to allow teens to start using its service without their parents. As such, there are a number of safeguards in place to allow parents to keep track of their children. Adult customers can use their own Waymo One account to invite their teen into the program, pairing their accounts together. Teens can also share their real-time location with their parents while they're riding. And 'specially trained' remote operators will be available to assist during the rides — and may even loop in the teen's parents if necessary. Waymo has been testing teen accounts with a select group of riders for months now, and is now rolling it out to the broader Phoenix area. The company didn't say if or when it plans on rolling out the service in its other markets. Security researcher and tech sleuth Jane Manchun Wong was the first to report on Waymo's experimentations, posting a screenshot of a teen account landing page back in March. (Wong was also the first to report Waymo's 'tipping' donation feature, and its idea to use footage from its interior cameras to train generative AI.) The company also sent out a survey last year asking its customers what they would want from teen accounts. The survey noted a number of advantages, including no strangers in the vehicles, no distracted driving, and flexible scheduling. Waymo also mentioned a number of aesthetic upgrades, like snacks, karaoke, or teen-styled graphics — though none of those suggestions seem to have made through to the final product. Waymo provided a number of supportive quotes from its teen riders who have been testing the service. And with the share of teenagers with driver's licenses dropping, Waymo's timing could be particularly ripe. Gen Z is more likely to ride public transit, use Uber or Lyft, or hop on an e-bike or shared scooter than drive a car, recent studies have shown. And parents, increasingly stressed out by all their kids' obligations, are looking for an extra hand in transportation. Of course, the risks are also present. Waymo still struggles occasionally with certain traffic patterns, and its vehicles do sometimes get in minor fender benders. The company says the data proves that its self-driving cars are better at avoiding crashes and injuries than human drivers. But younger riders could be less adept at navigating certain situations than adults — which makes its remote operators even more important.
WIRED
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- WIRED
The Teens Are Taking Waymos Now
Alphabet's self-driving car company launches what it hopes will be lucrative individual teen accounts—and maybe a whole lot of social change in the process. Photograph:Are the kids all right? They're in Waymos, at least, now that the self-driving car company has begun to allow Arizona teenagers in the Phoenix area to ride by themselves through special 'teen' accounts. Eventually, the teen service, open to 14- to 17-year-olds, could come to all of the markets in the US where Waymo operates its robot taxis, the company says: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, and soon, Miami and Washington, DC. In a country where so much of the transportation system depends on access to cars—and where many people, including those too young to have a drivers' license, are limited in what they can do and where they can go because of it—the move both promises and threatens to reorder young adult life. According to Waymo, the teens, and their parents, like it that way. The concept of robot cars still scare plenty, but Waymo says its customers' enthusiasm for their self-driving cars has a lot to do with quelling fears. The company has been testing the new service in the Arizona metro area for two years, starting with analyzing the transportation habits of a handful of area families in 2023. For the last stage, researchers, led by Waymo's product and customer research manager Naomi Guthrie, interviewed the teens who took part in a hundred-family pilot. In interviews with those participants, Guthrie was struck 'by the mounting anxiety that we see in that generation.' Youth Drive Compared to what Guthrie remembered from her teen years, kids seemed in constant touch with their caregivers, and to almost expect surveillance, with location-based apps such as Life360 allowing adults to keep tabs on their whereabouts. But their movements were limited, too, by those caregivers' schedules, and whether they could hitch rides. The teens interviewed had some 'stranger danger,' either a fear of or strong preference against interacting with strangers. They were also nervous about getting behind the wheel. 'Teens are scared to drive,' says Guthrie. Nationwide stats back that up, to some degree: nearly 5 percent of all US drivers were 19 or under in 2007, the year the iPhone came out, according to federal data; by 2023 this had dropped to 3.7 percent. Caregivers' worries, too, came up in Waymo feedback and interviews, Guthrie says. They were stressed by the expectations of modern parenting, which include playing at least part-time chauffeur to ferry kids to school and then after-school activities. They were also concerned about their children getting behind the wheel (as well as their children's least risk-averse friend.) Nationwide stats back that up, too: Teen drivers 16 to 19 are three times more likely to be in a fatal crash than drivers 20 and older. Waymo believes there is serious money—'product-market fit,' in the parlance of user experience experts like Guthrie—in being the solution to these many anxieties. Going Solo Teen Waymo accounts are linked to adult ones, and like adults, their accounts can be deactivated if they violate Waymo policies, which forbid in-car drug and alcohol use, weapons, big messes, and touching the vehicle's steering wheel or brakes. As with anyone who rides a Waymo, teens riding in the cars will have access to 24/7 customer support, including agents who can be contacted with a push of a button. Teen customers' in-vehicle requests will be automatically routed to the company's highest tier and best-trained agents. Waymo is also able to loop parents into rider support calls. It's likely not the first time minors are taking Waymos by themselves. A handful of anonymous parents told The San Francisco Standard last year that they sent their children on solo Waymo rides with some regularity—a violation of the company's terms of service. Eventually, Waymo could have more teen-focused features. Guthrie says that being able to play the right kind of music has been really important to teen riders, and the company is thinking through a 'karaoke mode' that would allow them to sing along with friends. In 2023, the US Surgeon General reported even as nationwide news of social isolation grew, young adults were more likely to say they were lonely than others. New technologies (and especially social media) seem associated with higher rates of disconnection. Might a human-free car present the same issues for teens? 'We don't want to have [teens] siloed,' says Guthrie. 'Our intention is not to make the problem worse.' Indeed, she says Waymo's team has heard the 'opposite': That empty Waymos can be 'a space to unwind or to relax and to have any pent-up stress that you might have from your day-to-day or school day release, and just be by yourself.' Kids and caregivers have lots of worries, clearly. It remains to be seen if we can add the social effects of robot rides to the list.
Los Angeles Times
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
I've watched hundreds of ICE raid videos. What the immigration algorithm tells us about L.A.
Nearly a month into the ICE sweeps that have upended immigrant life in Southern California, I found myself rummaging through some boxes in my garage, searching for understanding. I pulled out dusty copies of T.C. Boyle's 'Tortilla Curtain' and Luis J. Rodriguez's 'Always Running,' two classics I read years ago that left me with a lasting impression of the L.A. immigrant experience. I placed them on my nightstand. But every time I reached for one of the books, I grabbed my phone instead and cycled through the latest videos of immigration raids — on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. At this moment, words just can't compete with what I see in the images that course relentlessly through my feeds. I am not talking about burning Waymos or TV chopper footage of violent clashes played over and over during the first few days of the siege. I am obsessed with the average Joes who see those white-and-green Border Patrol trucks and turn on their cameras. These videos are choppy, the action often out of frame, frequently taken by bystanders in cars or in the middle of shopping. But what they lack in professional flair they make up for in raw emotion. Consider some scene from just the last few days: These images hold such power because they are both familiar and foreign. I know that corner in Koreatown. I've bought groceries at that Walmart. I used to drive by that shopping center in Santa Ana every morning. The locations are recognizable, even comforting, yet the vibes are anything but. A row of camouflage Humvees on the 105 Freeway. Abandoned work sites, food trucks, fruit vending carts, and even lawn mowers left running after the gardeners were arrested. The images are so incongruous they bring to mind those early pandemic views of L.A.'s empty freeways. Or the CGI-generated destruction of the downtown skyline in the final act of a disaster movie. Or the disoriented expressions on the faces of people after the shaking of an earthquake finally subsides. I know this place, but what has happened to it? 'Tortilla Curtain' was published in 1995 during one of California's anti-immigrant waves. The year before, voters had approved Proposition 187, which barred undocumented immigrants in California from receiving many public services. Boyle's novel captured those times and won acclaim for its uncomfortably biting satire of white fear and brown exploitation in one of those 'perfect' L.A. suburbs that those with means regard as an escape hatch. The undocumented workers in his book are treated with unrelenting, almost comic cruelty. They have no allies. And that is where 2025 is different from 1995, at least according to my algorithm. It's remarkable how often strangers come to the defense of those swept up, even risking arrest by getting into it with agents. Consider: I was scrolling my phone Monday night when I stopped on one reel. I know that intersection! That's 7th Street right around Cal State Long Beach. A traffic nightmare. In the median, one man is selling fruit and another is selling flowers. The person holding the camera screams from across the street 'La Migra!' and urges them to leave. After a bit of confusion, they take his advice and pack their things. Another video starts with the sounds of a woman wailing behind a truck in West L.A. 'My father was on his way to work. They must have pulled him out by force,' she is heard crying in Spanish. 'Oh, Father, he's an elderly man … He couldn't do anything to them.' The camera finally reveals her on the ground. But she is not alone. Four seeming strangers are at her side, comforting her. Here's more from our coverage of the ICE raids and arrests: A selection of the very best reads from The Times' 143-year archive. Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Engadget
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Engadget
Tesla's first Robotaxi rides kick off in Austin, Texas
The June 22 launch of Tesla's robotaxis in Austin, Texas, actually occurred. It's a tentative first step for the company, however: a human "Tesla Safety Monitor" is accompanying the first riders. There are also only ten cars and rides are limited to certain Tesla users. Those early riders and influencers have been sharing their experiences on social media, mostly (surprise) on X. Most of the early riders appear to be pro-Tesla users, with a company mention in their social media bio or a Tesla cap in their profile picture (or both), so consider these initial reactions within that context. Having said that, an autonomous car ride is... an autonomous car ride. Many livestreams show the safety monitor gripping a handle on the right side of the passenger seat, possibly with emergency controls. However, that hasn't yet been confirmed. Many passengers attempted to talk with their safety monitors, with, er, limited success. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. One user, Bearded Tesla Guy called the app 'basically Uber.' Others found it challenging to summon a Tesla car from the limited pool of rides, watching multiple driverless Waymos pass them by as they waited. Austin is the place for autonomous ride testing: Waymo is scaling up its service in partnership with Uber, while Amazon's Zoox is also testing its tech in the area. After verifying your identity with the human safety monitor, you initiate the journey by pressing the 'start ride' button. Tesla has linked the service to users' existing profiles, allowing you to import your existing music playlists, which is a nice touch. You can also adjust your temperature settings, seat position and more from the companion app. Unlike a typical Tesla, the robotaxi has buttons to ask the car to pull over or stop in lane. There's also the option to call support if you encounter any issues with your automated ride, although we'd assume that a human safety monitor would likely offer quicker assistance. As the service kicked off, Tesla revealed a new robotaxi page , with all the guidelines and rules for its Robotaxis. The company also has detailed FAQs for using the service and a sign-up sheet for updates. Early access riders are being charged a flat rate of $4.20 for their journeys. Parameters are strict, on top of the limited pool of cars. Rides have to go within a geofenced area that excludes airports and run between 6AM and midnight. At this point, we know to take Musk's claims with a grain of salt, but the Tesla boss says the company plans to grow its taxi fleet to a thousand driverless cars on the road 'within a few months.' Tesla has also said it will operate its robotaxi network using an 'unsupervised' version of its self-driving software.
Axios
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- Axios
Self-driving startup Applied Intuition nets $15 billion valuation
Applied Intuition, a Silicon Valley maker of an embedded intelligence platform for autonomous vehicles, raised $600 million in Series F funding at a $15 billion valuation led by BlackRock and Kleiner Perkins. Why it matters: Self-driving is the present, not the future, as evidenced by over a thousand Waymos on the road in major cities and Tesla's upcoming robotaxi launch in Austin. Zoom in: It can take tens or even hundreds of years to log enough real-world miles to prove that self-driving cars are safe, Rand researchers found. So autonomous vehicle developers need to rely on synthetic data and simulation to train their deep neural networks to handle the unexpected. Applied Intuition's software helps them prepare for those so-called edge cases, like a woman in a wheelchair chasing a duck Deal details: A source tells Axios that the round includes $200 million of primary capital and $400 million of secondary. Other new investors include Franklin Templeton, Qatar Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi Investment Council, Premji Invest, Stripes, Greycroft, BAM Elevate, and 137 Ventures. Return backers were Fidelity, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Bond, Elad Gil, Addition, and Tribe Capital.
