Going Full San Francisco
Waymo goes Full San Francisco West Bay except for SFO:
Jeff Dean: Exciting expansion! @Waymo now serves the whole SF Bay Area Peninsula from SF to San Jose and is taking riders on freeways.
They can serve SJC, and SFO is almost ready, employee rides are in place and public rides are ‘coming soon.’
Brandan: Would be nice if @Waymo comes across the bay to Berkeley!
Jeff Dean: We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!
Going Down The Highway
Waymo is going to start using freeways in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco. That's a big deal for longer rides, but there is still the problem that Waymos have to obey the technical speed limit. On freeways no huamn driver does this, so obeying the technical speed limit is both slower and more dangerous. We are going to need a regulatory solution, ideally that allows you to drive at the average observed speed.
Looking For Adventure
This is all a big unlock, but it depends on having enough cars to take advantage.
At this point, aside from regulatory barriers in some places like [...]
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Outline:
(00:10) Going Full San Francisco
(01:03) Going Down The Highway
(01:33) Looking For Adventure
(02:38) And Whatever Comes Our Way
(05:38) It's Coming
(06:20) Who Stands In The Way
(08:59) My One Weakness
(11:20) The path forward
(15:59) Cruise Control
(18:24) Growth Rates
(20:02) The Competition
(21:21) They Took Our Jobs
(22:44) Bikers As Winners
(23:21) The Elderly As Big Winners
(26:19) Save The Cat
(29:24) It's Going To Be The Future Soon
(31:12) In-Context Old Man Yells At Self-Driving Car
(32:07) The Safety Case
(34:12) Keep It Classy
(34:39) The Lighter Side
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First published:
January 7th, 2026
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ry3SyA92bJCPe75Nt/advancements-in-self-driving-cars
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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
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