Waymo is adding four more cities to its robotaxi network. Alphabet, Waymo's parent company, announced Wednesday that Denver, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Tampa will join the self-driving service's growing list of locations.
According to CNET, the rides in the newly added cities will initially be available only to Alphabet employees before opening to the general public. Waymo's service already operates in San Francisco, San Antonio, Orlando, Phoenix, and several other major cities.
The company's fleet is predominantly made up of fully electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles. Waymo recently added a roomier option called the Ojai, a modified Zeekr vehicle. Its newest vehicle, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, will be available in the new markets with a specialist behind the wheel to validate the hardware and software before a rider-only rollout goes live.
Waymo has been making headlines since 2020, though not always for positive reasons. In recent months, nearly 4,000 Waymo vehicles were affected by a recall issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after the robotaxis drove into construction zones on highways in Phoenix and San Francisco. The NHTSA report states that the cars incorrectly prioritized other highway hazards and failed to recognize the construction zones. A separate recall in May followed reports of vehicles driving into flooded roadways.
Despite those setbacks, Waymo is preparing to launch service in New York, Chicago, London, and Tokyo. The company also faces competition from Zoox, a rival robotaxi company owned by Amazon that has continued expanding its own operations across cities.
A Waymo representative was not available for comment.
