(Credit: JasonDoiy / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images)
Autonomous ridesharing company Waymo is expanding to four more cities in the Bay Area that make up the heart of Silicon Valley: Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto, and parts of Sunnyvale.
The 27-square-mile expansion brings more self-driving cars to more riders, but it's not open to everyone just yet. Waymo will offer the service to select riders in the service area to start and "gradually add riders to this new service area over time," according to SFGate.
Another limitation is that the cars cannot yet drive from these areas into the city of San Francisco. That, too, will come later as the company works to open up service to more parts of the Bay Area, including rides to San Francisco International Airport.
"Opening our fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Silicon Valley marks a special milestone in our Bay Area journey," Waymo product chief Saswat Panigrahi tells CNBC. "This is where Waymo began and where we’re headquartered."
Alphabet-owned Waymo is making more progress than General Motors-backed Cruise did before safety issues took its vehicles off the roads in San Francisco and other cities. GM ultimately pulled funding for Cruise, laid off staff, and is now repurposing Cruise's self-driving tech for use in cars it will sell to the public.
Tesla plans to launch its first autonomous ridesharing service in Austin, Texas, in June, though the company has a history of being overly optimistic on launch timelines. Waymo could be trying to get ahead of that launch with a PR blitz.
Last week, Uber added Waymo robotaxis as an option in its app for Austin riders. That partnership will next expand to Atlanta. It's not exclusive, however. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is also courting Tesla to get its future self-driving cars on the Uber app.