WEBVTT - Special Edition: Waymo co-CEO on the Road to 1 Million Robotaxi Rides a Week 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:07.000 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:12.360 Welcome to a special edition of Bloomberg Tech. I'm Ed Ludlow. 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.439 Weaimo is widely seen as leading the robotaxi race, but 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:19.680 with competitors like Tesla on its heel, the Alphabet unit 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:22.560 has no interest in hitting the brakes on growth. In 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:26.480 a wide ranging interview, Weimo co CEO to Qidra Markhana 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:31.520 talk to us about expanding into foreign markets, ongoing safety investigations, 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:35.880 and their recent mega funding round. Let's take a listen 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:40.240 to that conversation. Now, you've just raised sixteen billion dollars. 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:42.920 It's a lot of money. What is it unlocked for 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.280 Weimo over the next twelve twenty four months. 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:49.800 Raising the sixteen billion dollars and at one hundred and 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:53.200 twenty six billion dollar valuation, is really a vote of confidence. 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.000 I mean, this team has been heads down for a 0:00:56.120 --> 0:01:00.520 long time trying to bring this sort of scientific project 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:04.400 into reality and at scale. And so it's a huge 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:08.119 event of confidence not only from our majority investor, Alphabet, 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:11.720 but also from our co lead investors Sequoia and DST 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.800 and Dragonear, as well as a host of world class 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.640 existing and new investors and it just allows us to 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.039 continue to scale our business. Right now, we're laying the 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:26.679 groundwork for over twenty cities in this year alone. 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.000 I should point out, you know, we reported Alphabet will 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:32.560 account for the vast majority of that sixteen billion. But 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:38.240 it is interesting, so Quoia Capital Dst Dragonaire beyond you investors, 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.520 what do we interpret from that that they came in 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.080 at this stage of the company's life. 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:46.560 I think it's important to interpret that this is an 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:51.000 inflection point, right, Like in twenty twenty five, we quadrupled 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:53.800 the number of trips that we are providing, so we 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:58.639 offered fifteen million rides and we have over twenty million 0:01:58.720 --> 0:01:59.400 lifetime rides. 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:01.480 So it's just a really important year. 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.640 And now that we've launched Miami, that's across six cities, 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.480 but at that time it was across five cities, and 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:10.880 so demonstrating not only that the technology works, that we're 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.600 able to drive the safety impacts that we've been focused on, 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:16.480 you know, with when we were at one hundred and 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:20.040 twenty seven million miles, we were able to demonstrate a 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:25.080 ninety percent that we had ninety percent fewer serious injury 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:28.919 causing crashes or worse. That's the kind of safety output 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:31.440 that drives us. That's our mission to be the world's 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:34.880 most trusted driver. So coming in at this point demonstrates 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:39.200 that consumers are adopting it, the safety case is being made. 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.400 And it's just really exciting time to join the team. 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:44.919 You set the same for expansion across twenty cities this year. 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.720 Right right now, you're doing four hundred thousand paid rides 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:50.079 a week across six cities. 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:52.600 It's a greater scale. 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:54.360 Than when you and I talked to more than a 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:56.920 year ago, which seemed to be to be a time 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:00.560 of pace. Then what's the biggest challenge of operating a 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:04.440 robotaxi service at that new scale that you're developing. 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:08.359 I think everything is really exciting right now, and there 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.440 are many many things to be learned as we go. 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:14.799 Right like some markets are still not open and they're 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:19.080 really important transportation hubs around the world, like New York City, right, 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:21.400 you know. And so we were the first company to 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.440 receive a testing permit where we had driver supervision of 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:29.799 fully autonomous testing in the city. And we believe now 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:32.440 with Governor Hokel that we will be able to be 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.240 the first company to launch a New York City a 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:37.440 New York state. But you know this is going to 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.440 be a path actually figuring out the regulatory landscape. 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.600 There's something there, isn't there. City versus state, state versus ver. 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:46.000 We will talk about it. Yeah, I got a lot 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:47.840 of interest when I said that I was going to 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:50.600 be speaking with you about sixteen billion dollars. A lot 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:53.040 of money, but actually how will you use it? There's 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:57.360 a tension between scaling operations the fleet. You know, you've 0:03:57.360 --> 0:03:59.920 got to have more cars, but also a commitment to 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.760 invest in technology. And I wanted to teach you how 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:05.360 far you've thought about how much goes into each of 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:06.120 those buckets. 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:09.440 Yeah, so first and foremost, when we think about twenty 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:12.080 twenty six, you know, just the year ahead of us 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:16.960 execution execution execution, So scaling across these twenty cities that 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:20.200 were laying the groundwork for continuing to grow our world 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:24.400 class team is obviously super important to us. Making sure 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.200 that we are continuing to cost down our hardware stack 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:31.520 and prove out our unit economics while scaling our fleet. 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:35.960 And so we have our fully electric ipace fleet. We 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:39.279 are starting to introduce the OHI vehicles and then you 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:42.240 will see the ionic fives come online and so making 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.039 sure that we are investing for the long term for 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:47.279 a sustainable business is what we're really fueding. 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:51.920 See the ohig vehicles testing. If I am a user 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:53.760 of the service right now, will I soon be able 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:55.280 to actually get into an. 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.280 Ohai you will this year be able to right now? 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:00.600 We've only throughout twenty twenty five. In the beginning of 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:03.440 this year, had employees in three cities. 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:06.480 We just had a huge weekend here in the Bay Area, 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:10.919 San Francisco, but Santa Clara Super Bowl. Yes, I across 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:14.360 social media saw a lot of people reflect on their 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:18.640 first experience in a robotaxi, some of them of course 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:23.280 with Weimo, was that a tangible, meaningful moment for. 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.160 The company recently in the town? 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:25.760 Yes? 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:26.720 What data? 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:28.800 What evidence can we can we point to on how 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:29.520 big a weekend? 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:34.040 Yeah, Super Bowl is a reminder for us that Weimo 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:37.000 is part of the fabric of the Bay Area, right 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:40.440 Like people were able to hail rides from SFO from 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.640 San Jose Airport, people were able to get to. 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:45.080 And from the Levi Stadium. 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:47.880 You know, we obviously did a lot of fun activations 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:51.520 with influencers, but it's just a reminder that people are 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:57.600 using the weimo service in every day Aaron's doctor's appointments, 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:02.240 you know, getting kids to practice, in big life moments, weddings, 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:06.920 picking up a child from daycare, having a baby, you know, 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:10.240 going to the going to the hospital, pregnant, coming home 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.480 from the hospital with a newborn, and then these large 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.520 cultural moments, and so we've had a number of them. Obviously, 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:19.080 we started the month with the Grammys. We had a 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:22.680 host of activations there, then the super Bowl, and then 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.760 of course we have the All Star weekend coming in 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.560 Los Angeles, and so we're just finding this intersection of 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.720 everyday life and then real enthusiasm because a lot of 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:34.720 people came to the Bay Area for the super Bowl 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.479 and we're not in their city, and it's the thing 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:39.400 they had heard from their friends in the area. You 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:42.400 have to check out weimo, And so we saw so 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:44.240 many downloads. 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:45.839 And so many happy writers while they were here. 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:50.440 Weimo's reputation is growing globally and we're going to talk 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:54.080 about the literal expansion of your operations. But with this 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:57.960 funding round, you know, it's a who's who of investors 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:01.640 now on the cap table. It's a big raise at 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:04.680 a premium valuation. How much of that is sort of 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.839 setting the pieces in motion to life eventually as a 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.240 public company. Is that something that you and Dmitri and 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.360 the rest of the leadership plan for or is their 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.480 merit staying as you are now? 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:20.440 You know, we are just laser focused on execution, you know, 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:25.080 building way MO to be financially responsible, operationally excellent, and 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.320 then make sure we maintain the safety culture. Like that's 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.240 what we're really focused on. Having this vote of confidence, 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.160 as you said, not only from Alphabet, but from our 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.720 three colleades from this round, and from all of the 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.480 new investors who decided to join our cap table and 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:43.440 the existing ones who doubled down on their belief that 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:46.520 this is the right opportunity to fund. And so we 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:50.240 just feel humbled, but also there's a lot to do. 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:52.640 So we're just really focused on making sure that we 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:56.520 can scale, focusing on our two first international launches, you know, 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:59.920 London and Tokyo, and scaling across the United SCE. 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:02.080 Let's talk about the growth. 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:05.320 A lot of people just want to understand in some 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:07.600 of those cities where people are frustrated because the service 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.000 doesn't exist, what does it take to launch in a 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:13.840 city to go from mapping that city through to a 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:16.360 full paid commercial service. 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:21.040 Yeah, if the regulatory climate of a city is welcoming, 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:25.640 then if then we can show up and map and 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:28.440 launch in a couple of months like we did in Miami, right. 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:31.040 You know that's a city where you know, they were 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:33.600 welcoming and they were ready and we were ready, and 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:35.400 so we showed up. You know, we have a fleet 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:38.319 operating partner, and we were able to launch quite quickly 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:42.079 after we first arrived. I think in a lot of cities, 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:47.199 especially cities that are meaningful from a transportation perspective, we're helping, 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:51.440 we're working engaging with policymakers. You know, we have the 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:56.320 burden to demonstrate our safety impact. And so with one 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:01.200 hundred and twenty seven million miles in ninety percent fewer injury, 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.560 serious injury causing crashes or worse, you know, we have 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:07.160 to educate them on that kind of impact. Eighty two 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:11.880 percent fewer airbag deployments. You know, this isn't something that 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:15.640 any fleet based business has been able to come in 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.600 and give policymakers data. So assuming that we can do 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.160 that and then grow trust, and you know, we do 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:25.880 that by partnering with organizations in markets who have been 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:26.600 trying to. 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:28.120 Solve road safety issues. 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:32.600 They've been trying to expand mobility options for residents, and 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:35.080 so we partner with them. And then obviously we work 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:38.200 with law enforcement and first responders to train them on 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:39.560 horror technology works. 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:43.240 We do not yet have, although there has been progress 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:47.960 towards just this week, a federal level framework set of rules. 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:52.840 What do you think the direction of travel is with that? 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.680 And you know, clearly if you had to deal with 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:57.559 one set of rules and not a city by city, 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:01.520 let alone state by state based this or case, you'd 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.320 be making a bit more progress. 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:03.880 I suppose. 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:06.760 Yeah, we think it's really important that there is a 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:11.600 federal av standard. We've been advocating for sort of a 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:15.839 safety case based approach because the technologies are different, and 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:18.120 we think that the burdens should be on companies to 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.280 demonstrate why you believe your technology is safe enough. We 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:24.560 also think there should be transparency requirements. You know, people 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:27.439 should have to demonstrate how many trips are you providing? 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:30.800 You know, I don't right now. The balance isn't quite there. 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:33.720 I mean, some states require a lot of reporting, some 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:35.439 don't require as much reporting. 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:37.280 I think the United States has. 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:40.640 An opportunity with this technology to lead globally, and I 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:43.679 don't think you can lead globally if it's a framework 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:47.520 that's governed by multiple jurisdictions across the states. And it's 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:50.760 a way to slow down the adoption of this technology 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.319 not only in the US but in other markets. 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:57.800 New York City, New York City, not necessarily New York State. 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.680 A lot of people want to know what's the the 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:05.920 roadblock there upon the expression and what's the timeline. You know, 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:10.360 you work closely with the authorities, but that is a 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:11.600 big potential market. 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.160 Yeah, that's a market where you know, we're just going 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:17.600 to have to do the work and demonstrate our safety 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:21.240 outcomes and earn the trust and shizzle away at it 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:21.760 over time. 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:23.560 Do they have the rules for you to follow? 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:27.640 They do not have rules that allow the human operator 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:29.920 to be removed from vehicle entirely. 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.160 And until that changes, and until that changes. 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:34.920 But you know, there is an interest in doing this 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.400 in the state, even outside of the city, and that 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.840 gives us an opportunity to grow more fans and fans 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:44.439 actually are calling for this in cities where our technology 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:48.160 can't be deployed we are seeing organic campaigns spring up 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.439 saying I want Weimou in my town. 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:50.800 You know. 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:55.240 And sometimes it's you know, parents of children who will 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:59.000 never have driver's license saying like, Okay, this is a 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.400 safer alternati, let's bring it in and let's give these 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.400 children independence. And so it's been really exciting for us 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:08.400 to see people demanding it, and over time that's going 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:08.800 to grow. 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.440 Of those twenty cities that are coming this year, New 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:12.959 York City is not one of them. 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:13.679 Fastered in. 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:18.360 No, that's right, that's Waimo, co CEO t Quidra Malicana. 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:21.200 I met Ludlow, and you're listening to a special bonus 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:24.760 episode of Bloomberg Tech. We'll have more on Weymo's future 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:33.560 with the company's co CEO right after this. Thanks for 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.960 listening to this special edition of Bloomberg Tech. I met Ludlow. 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.240 Now here's more of my conversation with Weimo co ceo 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:42.120 Tequidra Malicana. 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:46.600 San Francisco. The Bay Area is my home. 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.120 London's where I grew up, and I was studying the 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:54.080 map of the Burroughs that you proposed to launch in 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:56.880 and you correct me if my math is wrong. But 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:00.319 just based on those burroughs at launch, this seems to 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:04.560 be the biggest citywide deployment from the start that you 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:05.400 guys will have done. 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:06.840 Is that correct? 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:10.360 It possibly, it's correct. 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:12.840 I mean we're in the phases of figuring out the 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:16.640 specifics around the launch and figuring out the actual framework 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:18.720 around the launch, and so I don't want to speak 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:20.520 to you definitively about what we're going to do. 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:23.280 But what you're speaking to is we're. 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:26.240 Not gated by the technology, right, and we have the 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.800 appetite to scale, and we want to partner and do 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:31.960 so safely, and we want to earn trust. So that's 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:33.920 like there's a lot of levers there that we have 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:36.560 to figure out how to strike the right balance and 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.640 how to make sure that we're introducing it to the 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:40.520 community both to meet the demand. 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:43.040 And I asked because of those twenty cities to come, 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:46.719 London is one, yes, and London is now outside of 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:48.960 the European Union, but it's you know, it's kind of 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:49.920 your europe launch. 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.120 Yes, what was that experience like? 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:56.920 Within London's regulatory framework and the UK's regulatory framework. 0:13:56.640 --> 0:14:01.120 They've been extremely forward leaning and interested in seeing how 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.840 this technology could actually improve safety on their roadways. And 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:06.800 that's where I think, you know, we find a sweet 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:11.800 spot when people are less sort of complacent about the 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:14.520 status quo. And I think there's a lot of complacency 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.560 about road depths forty thousand or one point two million globally, 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:21.400 and when there isn't, I think people are actively interested 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:25.080 in solutions and then they want to figure out, of course, 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:27.960 what are the things they need to think through and learn. 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.960 Well, pricing, for one, like London has take the Bus, Yes, 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.640 London has take the Tube. London is prepared to sort 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:38.520 of pay for a robot taxi service that's equivalent to 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:42.080 a human driven cab Black Cab in London or Uber 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:42.560 and left. 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:47.280 Yes, I yes, people are there's you know, obviously before 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:50.000 we go in, we do a lot of polling, We 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:52.760 meet with a lot of residents as well as advocates, 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:54.280 and people. 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:57.240 Are people want safe private spaces. 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:01.040 It adds to their day versus becoming time that they 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:03.360 lose in the day, and so it's a you know, 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:07.479 the thing that's been most exciting is once we introduce 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:11.920 the way most service into a citiescape, people discover things 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:14.880 they didn't think they could have, like that hour a 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:17.640 day in the morning, and that by yourself to get 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:18.280 something done. 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:21.480 People have just sacrificed it. Yes, and whether that's on. 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:24.240 Transit or whether that's it doesn't matter, and we're not 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.520 you know, people want to take transit. That's great because 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:28.760 you can also sit there, just can't sit there maybe 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.480 until your call on quiet. And so this is something 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.840 that we're hearing from writers all the time. I didn't 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:35.680 know that I needed this the way that I needed that. 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:40.520 Asia Pacific is also somewhere that is it varies by country, 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.360 but that robot taxis are embraced. You are looking very 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:47.240 closely at Japan. Yes, what do you see in the 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:50.400 Japanese market? Of course, you're very closely ligned with Toyota 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.640 as a partner, you know, almost a national champion for 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:57.920 them in the automotive space. Does your hope of launching 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.200 their go beyond Toyota? Is it in nate by Toyota? 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:03.920 And again, we have a lot of viewers in that 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:05.720 country who just want to know when. 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:10.160 Yes, yes, When we first thought about Tokyo Japan, we 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.080 thought about Tokyo right, And when we first thought about Tokyo, 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:16.600 we decided to partner with Neon Kotsu and go. And 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:20.280 that's because that, you know, the cab are such an 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:24.040 integral part of life there culturally as well culturally exactly. 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:26.720 And so what that's allowed us to do is we 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.560 have a fleet of vehicles there and the drivers of 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.240 those vehicles are part of that partnership. You know, they're 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:35.520 collecting the data for us, and so they're like helping 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:38.480 to usher in this change. There will still be cabs 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:41.400 for a long time, and there will be an introduction 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:45.120 of autonomous vehicles, and so finding partners, like you said, 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:48.160 national champions who can help us navigate not only are 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.280 the regulatory climate, but who already have that trust of 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:54.440 riders and who can help us educate riders that this 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:58.160 isn't like something they are not welcoming. It's actually something 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.360 they're quite excited about seeing too. Become a city of 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:02.840 the future from a transfert. 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:05.480 That is a market where the rules exist for you 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:09.000 to through partners or otherwise, but to charge a fair 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.879 and have a real business, even if modest at first. 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:14.720 That's exactly right, and of course it's something we've helped shape. 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:15.240 Right. 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:20.920 You know, there's most places contemplated drivers around the world, 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:23.760 right I mean that's the way laws, whether it's fifty 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:25.479 years ago or one hundred years ago. I mean they 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:29.400 were sort of written to regulate automobiles, and automobiles were 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:33.400 presumed to be driven by people. And so most places 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:36.399 we have to think through what needs to change in 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:38.640 the laws, and then if people are willing to work 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:40.480 with us on that, then we work with them to 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:40.879 change it. 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:42.520 And so in Japan we have a path forward. 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.960 Around the world, the sort of robotaxi race is framed 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.640 in US companies against Chinese technology companies, right. 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:51.240 I think this is. 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.320 Something that Weymo and some of Weimo's executives have been 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:57.880 kind of candid about this past week in testimony. How 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:01.240 do you see that playing out you For example, with Toyota, 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:04.639 you have a partner who also in common work with 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:08.800 Ponyai as an example. It's something you must be conscious 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.439 of in markets where you want to expend outside of 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:12.560 America in particular. 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:17.679 Yes, in general, if there are other companies focused on 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:22.840 autonomous driving to make roadsafer, we think that's positive, Like 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:26.080 that is a positive thing. We should have competition around 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.480 saving lives, and so that's a good thing. I think 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:32.080 what we don't spend a lot of time thinking about 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:35.840 is how everyone is thinking about how to pursue partnerships. 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:39.040 Right now, we're just laser focused on our strategy. We're 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.520 the only company that is offering a twenty four x 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:46.399 seven service across six markets in the US, with ambitions 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.800 to be in many more this year and launch internationally. 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:53.960 And you know, we've driven over two hundred almost two 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:59.400 hundred million fully autonomous miles, and we're driving over four 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:02.560 million miles per week, and so that's if you think 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:07.399 about it, that's over six human lifetimes every seven days. 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.399 And so our driver is learning at a rapid piece. 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:14.680 So we don't think there's anyone who's doing anything close 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:16.760 to what we're doing, and so for us, it's just 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:18.560 staying focused on our own ambitions. 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:22.920 Safety, there are still concerns, and in January in particular, 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:27.639 there's two kind of again case studies of regulatory scrutiny, 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:30.679 right of two specific incidents. I think it's important for 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.600 both of them. I take time in putting it to 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.040 you and explain to you. But in the case of 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:39.760 the Santa Monica incident, for example, a way more vehicle 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:45.160 struck or collided with a child, but the system detected 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:50.719 the child, it breaked sharply, and at the point that 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:53.439 the impact was made, it was a speed of single 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:57.240 digits miles per hourly six It had been traveling at seventeen. 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:02.200 So in that instance the the system worked, but a 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:06.639 probe was opened. Just would you reflect on that. But also, 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:10.880 you know, my interpretation of what weaimos publicly stayed about 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:13.040 this is that you actually kind of welcome the opportunity 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:16.199 to open up the system to the regulators, let them 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:16.679 look at it. 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:21.120 Yes, so, first and foremost, this was a child, and 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:25.240 we are extremely happy that she walked away from this incident, 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:29.399 as you said, because there's you know, an investigation depending, 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:31.040 we thought it was important to become a party to 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:34.720 the investigation, and so we're doing that. And as we've 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:38.760 already stated, you know, our car was traveling sixteen miles 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:40.000 per seventeen miles per hour. 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:42.359 We did detect her, you know. 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:46.760 Coming between from behind a tall suv into the roadway. 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:51.639 We heartbreaked and we made contact and at six miles 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:55.080 an hour. And we also determined and our human equivalent 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:58.400 model that human would not have been able to perform 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:02.520 as our superhuman driver performed. And so this is an 0:21:02.520 --> 0:21:05.520 example we believe of exactly. 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:06.159 Why we do what we do. 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:08.919