Waymo continues to increase its attain, with the robotaxi firm posting Friday that it’s now “formally licensed to drive totally autonomously throughout extra of the Golden State.”

Waymo already operates in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles (and out of doors California as nicely, in Atlanta, Austin, and Phoenix). However maps published by California’s Division of Motor Automobiles confirmed that the corporate can now check and deploy its autonomous autos throughout a a lot bigger space in each the Bay Space and Southern California.

Within the Bay Space, Waymo’s authorized areas of operation now embody many of the East Bay and North Bay (together with Napa/Wine Nation), in addition to Sacramento. In Southern California, the corporate’s authorized territory now stretches from Santa Clarita (north of Los Angeles) to San Diego.

The corporate will want extra regulatory approval earlier than it could possibly carry paying passengers in a few of these areas, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Though Waymo’s submit doesn’t provide many particulars about when it plans to truly begin providing rides in all these new areas, the corporate wrote, “Subsequent cease: welcoming riders in San Diego in mid-2026!”

The corporate had beforehand introduced its intention to launch in San Diego subsequent yr, together with Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

There’s been loads of Waymo enlargement information prior to now couple weeks, as the corporate introduced that it will likely be entering Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Tampa; is removing safety drivers forward of its industrial launch in Miami; and can start offering rides that use freeways in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix.

We mentioned the expansion of Waymo and different robotaxi firms on the newest episode of the Equity podcast. My co-host Sean O’Kane famous that as Waymo begins to supply extra unfettered entry throughout the Bay Space, folks could possibly be spending much more time of their robotaxis — so we would see them utilizing the service in new, bizarre, and even dangerous methods.