Google's Waymo Wants To Be The 'World's Most Trusted Driver' And Toyota 'Zero Traffic Accidents' — Both Join Forces To Bring Autonomous Driving Tech To Personal Vehicles

Alphabet Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) subsidiary Google-backed Waymo and Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) have announced a preliminary agreement on Tuesday to explore collaboration on autonomous driving technologies, with a focus on personally owned vehicles, the companies said in a joint release.

What Happened: The strategic partnership aims to combine Waymo’s autonomous driving expertise with Toyota’s vehicle manufacturing capabilities to develop a new autonomous vehicle platform. Woven by Toyota will join as a strategic enabler, contributing advanced software and mobility innovation to the project.

“Toyota is committed to realizing a society with zero traffic accidents and becoming a mobility company that delivers mobility for all,” said Hiroki Nakajima, Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Corporation. “We share a strong sense of purpose and a common vision with Waymo in advancing safety through automated driving technology.”

Waymo, which currently provides more than 250,000 fully autonomous paid rides weekly across San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin, will bring its substantial operational experience to the partnership. Data shows Waymo vehicles are involved in 81% fewer injury-causing crashes compared to human drivers.

“Waymo’s mission is to be the world’s most trusted driver,” said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO at Waymo. “This requires global partners like Toyota that share our commitment to improving road safety and expanding accessible transportation.”

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Why It Matters: The announcement comes as competition intensifies in the autonomous vehicle sector. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is preparing to launch its robotaxi service in Austin this June with 10-20 vehicles, though some investors remain skeptical about the limited scope of its initial deployment.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai recently highlighted autonomous vehicle personal ownership as “an option” in Waymo’s future during the company’s first-quarter of 2025 earnings call, aligning with this new Toyota partnership’s focus on personally owned vehicles.

The partnership will focus on incorporating aspects of Waymo’s technology into Toyota’s vehicles while continuing to develop Toyota’s proprietary Toyota Safety Sense suite of advanced safety features. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Photo Courtesy: Sundry Photography on Shutterstock.com

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.