Google’s Waymo is rolling into Washington, DC, in clever push to get legal robotaxis on the fed’s radar

Google’s Waymo is bringing its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to Washington, DC. 

Waymo has been moving its vehicles into the nation’s capital since January and plans to add even more in the coming weeks. But there’s a roadblock: DC still hasn’t given the green light to allow driverless cars to operate without a human backup. Waymo says it’s working closely with policymakers to change that and lay more legal groundwork for fully autonomous rides.

Waymo One, the company’s self-driving taxi service, is already logging over 200,000 paid rides per week across San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin, after surpassing 4 million paid trips in 2024. Earlier this month, the company said it was expanding its service to include more coverage around the San Francisco Bay Area. Next up on the expansion map: Atlanta and Miami.

DC’s unique governance situation, where the federal government still has broad latitude to oversee the municipality, could also now be a better regulatory situation for an autonomous car company that has repeatedly had to overcome skepticism at the local, municipal government level. Operating the cars in DC is a great way to get its business on the federal government’s radar, or at least in this case, its lidar.

Bringing AVs to the heart of US policymaking could also help Google push for clearer federal regulations — something lawmakers have been slow to provide amid safety and liability concerns.

Still, that hasn’t scared off investors. Waymo raised $5.6 billion in a funding round led by Alphabet last October.