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Brain

Waymo Driver

Waymo's autonomous driving system (the Waymo Driver), now in its sixth generation, integrating a 360-degree sensor suite (cameras, lidar, radar) with perception, prediction, and planning to run fully-driverless robotaxi service. Waymo's research includes EMMA, a Gemini-powered end-to-end multimodal driving model that remains research-stage and is not deployed in production vehicles.

Foundation model · Maturity: Commercial · Closed · Powers 3 robots

Machine-readable surfaces

Key facts

Model type
foundation-model
Maturity stage
commercial
Open source
no
System structure
360-degree sensor suite (cameras, lidar, radar) with perception, prediction, and planning
Built on
Gemini-powered end-to-end multimodal driving model (EMMA, research-stage)
Sixth-generation sensor suite
Waymo says the 6th-generation Driver uses 13 cameras, 4 lidar, 6 radar, and an array of external audio receivers, with overlapping fields of view out to 500 meters (Waymo).
Cost and weather redesign
Waymo's August 19, 2024 engineering post says the 6th-generation hardware cuts system cost while adding resolution, range, and compute, and adds sensor-cleaning measures for colder weather (Waymo).

Developed by (1)

Powers (3)

Where Waymo Driver runs

View the global map

Deployments of robots powered by Waymo Driver, by place and type.

Free to use on your site, with a link back to DEPLOY.

Common questions

What is Waymo Driver?
Waymo's autonomous driving system (the Waymo Driver), now in its sixth generation, integrating a 360-degree sensor suite (cameras, lidar, radar) with perception, prediction, and planning to run fully-driverless robotaxi service. Waymo's research includes EMMA, a Gemini-powered end-to-end multimodal driving model that remains research-stage and is not deployed in production vehicles.
Which robots run on Waymo Driver?
3 robot models on the DEPLOY registry run on Waymo Driver: Waymo Driver (6th gen), Waymo Via (autonomous trucking), Ojai.
Who developed Waymo Driver?
Waymo Driver is credited to Waymo on the DEPLOY registry. Each developer attribution is verified via primary sources.
Is Waymo Driver open source?
No. Waymo Driver is recorded as proprietary on the DEPLOY registry. Model weights and source are not publicly available.
What type of AI is Waymo Driver?
Waymo Driver is a foundation model on the DEPLOY registry.
What is Waymo Driver's maturity stage?
Waymo Driver is at the commercial stage on the DEPLOY maturity ladder. Commercial stage means production-grade deployments are operating at named customer sites.

Sources (7)

  1. https://waymo.com/waymo-driver/
  2. https://waymo.com/research/emma/
  3. https://waymo.com/blog/2024/08/meet-the-6th-generation-waymo-driver/
  4. https://waymo.com/blog/2025/12/demonstrably-safe-ai-for-autonomous-driving/
  5. https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.23262
  6. https://waymo.com/safety/research/
  7. https://twimlai.com/podcast/twimlai/waymos-foundation-model-for-autonomous-driving
Methodology: Verified · 7 sources (3 primary) · last reviewed 2026-10-09

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-10-09

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: commercial

Sources by quality tier

3
primary-company-ir
Company IR disclosure
3
unclassified
Unclassified source
1
preprint
Preprint

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Waymo Driver.

Canonical ID dd967d2f-5782-4344-8a13-e02581e745db