Waymo Begins Sixth Generation Autonomous Operations in the United States

What Happened?

Waymo is beginning sixth generation autonomous operations in the United States, according to the company’s website. Waymo’s website posted a new article describing the launch, claiming the latest system serves as the primary engine for a new era of expansion, with a streamlined configuration designed to decrease costs while maintaining high levels of safety standards.

The company also claimed the new system is designed for long-term growth across multiple vehicle platforms, with expanded capabilities that will allow Waymo to begin operating in more difficult weather environments, including those with snow, ice, and heavy rain. 

Why it Matters

Autonomous vehicles have continued to improve during the past five years, and Waymo is among the leaders in the field. As of February 2026, Waymo vehicles in total surpassed two hundred million miles of autonomous driving after operating in ten major cities since the end of the 2020 pandemic.

Waymo’s data indicates the company provided one million rides per month as of December 2025, a number projected to grow to one million per week by the end of 2026.

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Since autonomous vehicles began testing, the goal for engineers has been to design a vehicle that could match or equal the capabilities of a human driver. Companies invested in sensor technology and software allowing onboard computers to process external sensory data in a way that mimicked human eyes and ears.

But Waymo’s sixth generation autonomous vehicle aims to exceed human performance. According to Waymo’s website, the sixth generation autonomous vehicles have a sensor suite that performs better than any human possibly could.

Waymo claims its new high resolution sensor suite contains fewer cameras but can see the surrounding environment in better detail than the human eye. The onboard cameras have self-cleaning systems to keep them free from water or grime.

And in situations where the cameras do become clouded or blocked, the onboard lidar system takes over to provide seamless sensing of the surrounding area. These claims have yet to be proven on actual highways, but Waymo’s launch of their new system indicates a high degree of confidence in its capabilities.

The combination of lidar, radar, and external audio sensors could provide Waymo’s self-driving vehicles with superior sensing capabilities to human drivers. Whether the onboard computer system can utilize all that information in real-time to make safe, accurate driving decisions will be demonstrated or disproven as the new fleet accumulates more driving miles. But thus far, Waymo’s safety record has been impressive. 

How it Affects You

If Waymo’s new sixth generation autonomous vehicles can not only equal but exceed the performance of human drivers consistently, it could represent a turning point in the evolution of self-driving vehicle technology.

Trust is an essential component of every business, and self-driving vehicles that can outperform human-driven vehicles could lead to riders who trust the autonomous systems more than traditional human-driven cars and trucks.

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