Waymo deploys sixth-generation Ojai robotaxis in US

Waymo has begun deploying its sixth-generation driverless system in a new robotaxi called Ojai.

They are now carrying employees and their guests in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The Alphabet-owned (GOOGL) robotics company says the system is cheaper to build.

Performs better in harsh weather, and will expand to public riders later this year before moving into more cities in 2026.

The vehicles are built on a Geely base model, with Waymo installing its autonomous stack in the United States. It also confirmed the system works on Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxis while its older Jaguar I-PACE fleet keeps running on the previous generation.

Waymo’s Other Bets unit lost $7.51 billion in 2025. Days ago, the company raised $16 billion at a $126 billion valuation. That only makes sense if unit economics are about to inflect. Sixth generation is about cost curves, not camera specs.

Waymo says it uses fewer cameras, a new 17-megapixel imaging system, upgraded lidar and radar, and integrated cleaning systems that keep sensors clear in rain and snow. Fewer components and better durability mean lower capital cost per vehicle and higher uptime. In robotaxis, uptime is everything. A car that can operate even 5 percent more hours per week drives down cost per mile fast.

The disruption behind the news: Robotaxis win when they’re cheaper than a human driver.

If Waymo can shave even $10,000 off hardware costs per vehicle and increase operational availability by 10 percent, that compounds across thousands of cars. High costs and inefficiencies are one of the 5 signs an industry is ripe for disruption.

Spread over a five-year service life, that could mean a meaningful drop in cost per mile.

At scale, pennies per mile are existential.

Uber’s average U.S. gross booking per trip hovers around $20.

Cut the driver out and own the fleet, and the margin structure flips.

Waymo is also widening a strategic moat. Lawmakers are grumbling about Chinese-made base vehicles, but Waymo controls the software, sensor stack, and data. That is where the value sits. The company has already proven it can run mixed fleets during upgrades. That means it can iterate hardware without shutting down service. Traditional automakers cannot move at that cadence.

The geopolitical angle matters too. While U.S. rivals struggle to launch fully autonomous services, Waymo is already operating in six markets and planning international expansion to London. If it locks in dense urban corridors first, it captures routing data, rider habits, and regulatory familiarity. Data network effects are real in autonomy. Every mile driven feeds the system. Waymo has logged tens of millions of fully autonomous miles. New entrants start at zero.

What to watch next

First, public expansion timing.

When Ojai opens to paying riders later this year, watch pricing. If Waymo undercuts Uber and Lyft by even 5 to 10 percent in dense zones, adoption could accelerate fast.

Second, fleet size.

If we see announcements of thousands of sixth-generation vehicles ordered rather than hundreds, that signals confidence in hardware economics.

Third, regulatory tone.

If federal or state scrutiny around Chinese supply chains intensifies, Waymo may need to localize more components. That could raise short-term costs but also entrench it as the only compliant operator at scale.

Robotaxis have been a science project for a decade. Ojai upgrade says they’re turning into infrastructure. Once the math works, human driving in major cities starts to look like a luxury product. And luxury products don’t win mass markets.

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