Waymo accelerates robotaxi expansion with launches in Denver, San Diego and Tampa

Waymo has started to offer its robotaxi service to the public in Denver, San Diego, and Tampa, extending the Alphabet-owned company’s commercial operations to 14 U.S. cities.

The company said on Tuesday that it will begin inviting riders on a rolling basis and slowly ramp up access in the three cities, following its usual commercial playbook. The expansion has increased its fleet of self-driving Jaguar I-Pace hatchbacks and a new minivan called the Ojai to more than 4,000 vehicles.

The launch in these three cities comes as Tesla is striving to close the gap in the robotaxi market. Tesla now charges for rides in its driverless Tesla Model Y vehicles in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa. Service in some of these markets is limited, but the company continues to expand within these cities and add vehicles to its fleet. The company is also banking on its Cybercab, a custom-built two-seater with no steering wheel or pedals, to speed up its efforts.

Waymo’s announcement highlights a relentless expansion push that kicked into gear 18 months ago, and helped cement its position as U.S. robotaxi market leader. Waymo operated a robotaxi service in Phoenix for years before August 2023, when it received all the permits required to operate and charge customers for driverless rides in San Francisco.

As Waymo continued to expand in the Bay Area — first to surface streets throughout the entire city, then the surrounding enclaves, and eventually the freeways that connect them — the company began to move into Los Angeles in 2024.

But it wasn’t until March 2025, when the company opened its robotaxis to riders in Austin through a partnership with Uber, that its growth plan really took hold. Since then, Waymo has launched commercial robotaxi services in seven more cities, including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Nashville, Orlando and San Antonio.

Its pace of expansion isn’t slowing. Last month, the Nevada Transportation Authority unanimously approved a permit that will allow Waymo to operate up to 1,000 autonomous vehicles over the next year in Clark County, home to Las Vegas. Tesla and Uber were also granted permits by the agency. Nor is the expansion limited to the United States: Waymo is also planning to launch a robotaxi service in London and Munich.

Waymo follows roughly the same plan with nearly every new market, first mapping and testing its autonomous vehicle tech, then removing the human safety operator, and eventually allowing employees, the media, and other invited guests to try the robotaxi service. How soon Waymo opens up its service to paying riders often hinges on local regulations. States such as California require permits from two different agencies, covering both the deployment of driverless vehicles on public roads and the ability to charge for rides.

Waymo’s launch in Denver, San Diego and Tampa is following a similar path. Although there is one notable difference: Waymo’s next-generation robotaxi, a Zeekr-made minivan branded the Ojai, will be the only autonomous vehicle available to riders in Denver and San Diego.

The Ojai (pronounced oh-hi) features Waymo’s sixth-generation self-driving system and is designed to be cheaper to build, operate and maintain. For now, that fleet is small, at about 300, when compared to its Jaguar I-Pace numbers. But it is expected to grow quickly as Waymo chases profitability alongside growth.