Waymo has launched its sixth-generation Ojai robotaxi to select riders in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Purpose-built for autonomous ride-hailing rather than retrofitted from an existing car, the Ojai is built on a platform manufactured by Geely's Zeekr in China. It uses 42% fewer sensors than its predecessor (the Jaguar I-PACE) while upgrading their quality, including a 17-megapixel imager and improved lidar capable of operating in heavy rain and snow. Morgan Stanley estimates the Ojai costs around $125,000 per unit versus $200,000 for the I-PACE. The Chinese manufacturing arrangement faces political scrutiny due to tariffs and connected vehicle software restrictions, though Waymo has structured imports to minimize tariff exposure. Waymo now delivers over 500,000 paid rides per week, targets one million weekly rides by end of 2026, and recently closed a $16 billion funding round valuing the company at $110 billion. Competitors include Tesla's camera-only robotaxi in Austin, Amazon's Zoox, and Baidu's Apollo in China.
