Google’s parent company, Alphabet, said that its autonomous vehicle project was spinning off from its research lab X and would operate as a stand-alone company under the name Waymo.
The New York Times says that Alphabet’s decision to spin out Waymo is a signal that the company thinks its self-driving technology has advanced beyond research project status and is ready for commercialization
The ride-hailing service Uber is already testing self-driving cars to pick up customers in Pittsburgh with a person on standby in the driver’s seat.
Tesla Motors has a semiautonomous feature called Autopilot that can take over for the driver for long stretches, and it is preparing for its newest cars to go fully autonomous as early as next year.
