Waymo to bring autonomous ride-hailing to Singapore in 2028

Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit Waymo will roll out its autonomous electric ride-hailing service in Singapore by 2028, Waymo announced on Friday, marking its first entry into Southeast Asia.

Waymo said an initial fleet of electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles will arrive in Singapore in the coming months.

In 2027, trained autonomous specialists will conduct initial manual driving to accustom the Waymo Driver to local road geometry and monsoon weather patterns.

Waymo is working with the Singapore transport ministry and the Land Transport Authority to bring its services to Singapore.

Transport minister Jeffrey Siow said: “Singapore welcomes Waymo’s entry as our newest autonomous vehicle operator. Waymo brings world-class technology and operational expertise to Singapore and will move us towards our vision of creating new transport options for Singaporeans.”

This week, Waymo also announced it was aiming to launch ‌Japan’s first fully autonomous commercial taxi service in Tokyo in 2027.

Waymo, which was valued ​at $126bn (R2.05-trillion) in February when it ​raised $16bn (R259.9bn), has been growing its robotaxi ⁠fleet as it competes with Amazon’s Zoox ​and Tesla in the self-driving vehicle market.