Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana believes different firms engaged on autonomous autos have to do extra to show their expertise is secure, she stated throughout an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025.
Mawakana had simply been requested who she thought of to be on the listing of firms making an attempt to make roads safer throughout Monday’s interview.
“I don’t know who’s on that listing, as a result of they’re not telling us what’s occurring with their fleets,” she stated.
Prioritizing security whereas scaling operations was an enormous matter in the course of the interview, and Mawakana was certain to quote the data Waymo recently released that reveals, by its depend, that the corporate’s autos are 5 instances safer than human drivers and 12 instances safer with respect to pedestrians.
Mawakana declined to say whether or not she was particularly speaking about Tesla, however there are only some firms within the U.S. proper now claiming to be engaged on robotaxi tech.
Tesla publishes quarterly “automobile security stories.” However that knowledge solely focuses on using the corporate’s Autopilot driver help expertise, which is designed for use on highways, the place the speed of crashes is decrease than on floor streets. (And the latest report shows an uptick in crashes.) Tesla has not launched any public knowledge concerning the security of its nascent robotaxi pilot program in Austin, Texas.
Different firms within the area are early within the deployment section or nonetheless testing their expertise. Zoox has solely simply begun providing rides in its purpose-built AV in Las Vegas, Nevada. Firms like Could Mobility and Pony AI have but to launch commercially within the U.S. Aurora, the self-driving vans firm, has published a safety framework.
“I believe there’s a accountability, for those who’re going to place autos on the highway, and also you’re going to take away the motive force from behind the wheel, and also you’re going to have somebody in another room observing the fleet who can take over their autos, it’s incumbent upon you to be clear about what’s occurring,” she stated. “And if you’re not being clear, then it’s my view that you’re not doing what is critical with a purpose to truly earn the correct to make the highway safer.”
