>Waymo said it plans to launch a robotaxi service in Los Angeles, another sign that the Alphabet subsidiary is accelerating its commercial ramp up.
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>Waymo has had a presence in Los Angeles since 2019, periodically coming in to map neighborhoods, including downtown, Miracle Mile, Koreatown, Santa Monica, Westwood and West Hollywood.
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>The announcement Wednesday has a decidedly more commercial aim. Initially, more than a dozen Waymo autonomous vehicles will be in Los Angeles and scale from there, according to Waymo’s new chief product officer Saswat Panigrahi, who most recently was vice president of strategy, product management and data science.
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>The intent, he added, is that this will be a driverless robotaxi service that will operate 24 hours a day. In the run up to its eventual launch, Waymo is partnering with local groups MADD California and Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.