Waymo Targets Chicago and Charlotte as It Accelerates U.S. Robotaxi Expansion

New updates have been reported about Waymo.

Waymo is advancing its U.S. robotaxi rollout by moving into Chicago and Charlotte, where it has begun manual mapping and data collection as the first step toward future autonomous ride-hailing services. The company typically spends months manually driving in new markets to capture local traffic dynamics, road nuances, and rare edge cases before transitioning to supervised autonomous testing and then fully driverless commercial operations.

Charlotte’s suburban-style layout and temperate climate represent a comparatively lower-friction deployment, while Chicago’s dense urban core, congestion, and severe winters present a more demanding environment that, if mastered, would strengthen Waymo’s argument that its technology can scale nationwide. This expansion follows the launch of commercial driverless services this week in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando, lifting Waymo’s robotaxi footprint to 10 cities and signaling an accelerated growth phase supported by the $16 billion in fresh funding it secured earlier this month to fuel international and domestic expansion.