Waymo’s co-CEO on the challenge of scaling robotaxis safely

Waymo’s co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana emphasized the critical need to scale the company’s robotaxi operations safely during her interview at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. She highlighted that achieving scale is essential not only for Waymo’s path to profitability but also for improving road safety, asserting that Waymo’s autonomous vehicles currently operate at a safety level surpassing typical human drivers. The company is aggressively expanding its service footprint, planning launches in multiple U.S. cities—including Washington D.C., Miami, Denver, Dallas, Seattle, and Nashville—and internationally in London by 2026. Waymo aims to offer 1 million trips per week by the end of 2026, leveraging partnerships with Uber, Lyft, and Avis to accelerate growth. Mawakana also addressed the challenges of safely scaling robotaxi services, acknowledging that while perfection is unattainable, transparency and accountability remain paramount. She criticized competitors for lacking sufficient openness about their safety records, stating that transparency is necessary to earn public