It seems like one thing solely the San Francisco tech scene might dream up: A new child’s first-ever automobile journey takes place with no driver.
However that’s exactly what occurred Monday when a lady delivered her little one in a Waymo autonomous automobile whereas on her approach to UC San Francisco Medical Middle, hospital spokesperson Jess Berthold confirmed.
Whereas the mom was en path to the hospital, Waymo stated its rider assist staff detected “uncommon exercise” contained in the automobile, initiated a name to examine on the passenger and contacted 911.
The rider, child and automobile arrived safely on the hospital.
“We’re proud to be a trusted journey for moments huge and small, serving riders from simply seconds previous to a few years younger,” the corporate stated in an announcement to The Instances. “We want the brand new household all the perfect, and we sit up for safely getting them the place they’re going by means of a lot of life’s occasions.”
The Instances was unable to succeed in the mom Wednesday.
After drop-off, the automobile was faraway from service so it might be cleaned.
Waymo confirmed this was not the primary delivery in considered one of its autonomous automobiles however didn’t present additional particulars.
The corporate — a subsidiary of Google dad or mum Alphabet Inc. — started working its autonomous ride-hailing service to pick out riders as a analysis program on San Francisco’s hilly streets in 2021, and opened service to all in 2024, in response to its web site.
Nevertheless, it’s been a bumpy highway at instances. Waymo autos have disturbed native residents by honking at odd hours, and the corporate drew headlines after considered one of its robotaxis struck and killed KitKat, a beloved San Francisco cornerstore cat, earlier this yr.
The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration has recorded Waymo taxis as being concerned in at the least 14 animal collisions since 2021.
The company in October additionally opened a preliminary investigation into about 2,000 Waymo autos to look at the know-how round stopped faculty buses following experiences that one of many driverless autos had navigated round a faculty bus whereas youngsters disembarked.
