DEPLOYDatabase

Deployment

Waymo Driver 6th-gen at Austin

The sixth-generation Waymo Driver is Waymo's autonomous driving stack for fully autonomous robotaxi service. The platform integrates 13 cameras, 4 lidars, 6 radars, and external audio receivers, with overlapping 360° coverage and a detection range up to roughly 500 meters in nominal conditions. Compared to the fifth-generation system on the Jaguar I-PACE, the sixth-gen system uses 42% fewer total sensors. Waymo says the per-unit hardware cost is targeted under $20,000, a more than 50% reduction from the 5th-gen system. Currently runs on the Zeekr RT (sold as the “Ojai” robotaxi, purpose-built without a steering wheel or pedals) and the Hyundai IONIQ 5; began fully autonomous commercial operations in February 2026.

Waymo Driver 6th-gen by Waymo · Operated by Waymo · Machine verified

Track Waymo Driver 6th-gen at Austin

Machine-readable surfaces

Footage

PRIMARY SOURCE
Source: Waymo

Waymo's look at the rider experience during a fully driverless Waymo One trip, with no safety operator in the vehicle. Service is geofenced and permitted city by city.

PRIMARY SOURCE
Source: Waymo

Waymo's guide to hailing a fully autonomous Waymo One robotaxi ride. Service is fully driverless (no safety operator) within geofenced areas; the Waymo Driver is the autonomous system, distinct from the vehicle.

PRIMARY SOURCE
Courtesy of Waymo

Official Waymo video documenting Steve Mahan experiencing the world's first fully autonomous ride on public roads in 2015. The vehicle had no steering wheel, no pedals, and no test driver.

Operator: Waymo, available exclusively through the Uber app (riders requesting standard/comfort rides are matched with Waymo vehicles). Fully-driverless commercial service in Austin since 2025. Verified status (May 2026): active public service. Waymo launched in Austin on the Uber app on March 4, 2025 (timed to SXSW); access in Austin is exclusively via the Uber app, where riders are matched to a Waymo or a human driver at the same price. Service area grew from about 37 sq mi at launch to roughly 90 to 130 sq mi; Uber/Avomo manages fleet operations (Jaguar I-PACE).

Key facts

Launched
2025
Access
Exclusively via Uber app
Start
March 4, 2025 (timed to SXSW)
Coverage
Grew from about 37 sq mi at launch to roughly 90-130 sq mi
Fleet
Jaguar I-PACE vehicles
Partner
Uber/Avomo manages fleet operations
Status
Active public service as of May 2026
Use Case
Riders requesting standard/comfort rides matched with Waymo vehicles at same price as human driver

Exposure

Customer segment
consumer
Scale tier
undisclosed

Each exposure value carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.

Safety record

No incidents on record for Waymo Driver 6th-gen at Austin.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Machine verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-07-10
Model
Waymo Driver 6th-gen
Company
Waymo
Location
United States/Texas/Austin
Operator
Waymo
Status
operational
Operator type
maker operated
First seen
2025-03-01
ID
59b67c6e-aab3-46eb-93f8-3dccb7cda4fb

Timeline

  1. Mar 2025
    First recorded
    Waymo Driver 6th-gen first documented operating at Austin.
  2. May 2026
    created
  3. Jul 2026
    Current status: operational, reviewed
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

Claimed vs. verified

Waymo claims 3,500 Waymo Driver 6th-gen units in the field. DEPLOY has independently verified 15 deployment sites and 1,500 units.

The gap between claimed and verified is the Fleet Reality signal. See the Fleet Reality Index.

On the deployment map

Waymo Driver 6th-gen operates in Austin. Explore the full verified map:

Verifications (1)

Sources (8)

  1. Austin operational via Uber · https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/18/waymo-texas-florida-2026.html · 2025-11-18
  2. Austin commercial 2025 · https://www.understandingai.org/p/waymos-next-five-cities-are-all-in · 2025-11-18
  3. https://waymo.com/blog/2024/09/waymo-and-uber-expand-partnership/
  4. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/04/uber-users-in-austin-are-getting-matched-with-waymo-robotaxis/
  5. https://www.axios.com/2025/03/04/uber-waymo-robotaxi-austin
  6. https://fortune.com/2025/03/04/uber-waymo-launch-driverless-ride-service-austin/
  7. https://electrek.co/2026/05/13/waymo-expands-coverage-1400-square-miles-11-cities/
  8. https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/waymo-uber-expand-service-in-austin-heres-where/
Methodology: Verified · 8 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-10

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-10

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: commercial

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: av

Sources by quality tier

4
unclassified
Unclassified source
2
secondary-industry-publication
Industry publication
1
secondary-established-publication
Established publication
1
primary-company-ir
Company IR disclosure

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

Methodology surface for Waymo Driver 6th-gen at Austin.

Common questions

What is the Waymo Driver 6th-gen deployment at Austin?
Waymo Driver 6th-gen, built by Waymo, is recorded as a deployment at Austin on the DEPLOY registry. Waymo operates the deployment directly.
Who operates Waymo Driver 6th-gen at Austin?
Waymo, the manufacturer of Waymo Driver 6th-gen, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the Waymo Driver 6th-gen deployment at Austin go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting March 1, 2025 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the Waymo Driver 6th-gen deployment at Austin?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

Deploy Watch

Track this deployment.

We notify you when status changes against primary-source evidence, contract events surface, or a related incident is filed.