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The self-driving taxi revolution begins at last

It’s Waymo complicated than it looks.

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Alphabet-owned Waymo is expanding its fleet and presence in the US. Here is one of its robotaxi on the streets of Manhattan.

Alphabet-owned Waymo is expanding its fleet and presence in the US. Here is one of its robotaxi on the streets of Manhattan.

PHOTO: REUTERS

The Economist

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In 1995, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University drove 4,800km from Pittsburgh to San Diego without their hands on the steering wheel. The No Hands Across America tour marked the start of a long road trip towards autonomous driving in America.

Thirty years later, you can, at last, see the fruits of that journey in the proliferation of self-driving cabs in several cities across America. Soon they will be braving the less predictable weather – and the left side of the roads – in London and Tokyo.

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