Practical AI Autonomous Vehicle Research at Waymo
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Nov 13, 2025 
Drago Anguelov, Waymo's VP and head of the AI Foundations team, discusses the cutting-edge advancements in driverless technology. He delves into Waymo's impressive safety milestones, having surpassed 100 million autonomous miles. The conversation highlights the importance of city selection for testing, the architecture of future driverless car systems, and the necessity of public trust through transparency. Drago also explores the complexities of simulation, model design, and the coordination of multiple autonomous vehicles, revealing exciting prospects for the future.
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Scale And Safety Evidence
- Waymo has scaled to five major metros and serves hundreds of thousands of paid rides weekly.
- Their safety study across ~100M autonomous miles shows substantially fewer serious accidents versus human drivers.
Personal Aha Moment Riding Autonomously
- Drago describes his personal "aha" moment riding fully autonomously in San Francisco in 2022.
- That firsthand experience convinced him of the technology's value and accelerated his advocacy.
Pick Cities To Grow Capabilities
- Choose test cities by balancing market impact and technical diversity in driving conditions.
- Expand operational domains gradually (urban, highways, snow) to validate capabilities systematically.