Waymo Says ‘Completely Driverless’ Minivans Coming To AZ

waymo, driverless cars, autonomous vehicles, arizona,

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle business under Google’s parent company Alphabet, sent an email to its ride-hailing app customers advising that their next trip might not have a human behind the wheel, the Verge reported on Thursday (Oct. 10). 

An email to customers posted on Reddit and confirmed by the company as being authentic, said “Completely driverless Waymo cars are on the way,” for customers in the suburbs of Phoenix.

The email was sent to over 400 customers who signed up to test Waymo’s self-driving cars. An invite-only commercial ride-hailing service called Waymo One included roughly 1,000 people for the beta test.

The company is using self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans to drive Phoenix residents across a geofenced area that includes several suburbs such as Chandler and Tempe.

Waymo demoed its driverless cars in Arizona in 2017 but most rides included a trained driver behind the wheel. 

Formerly known as the Google self-driving project, Waymo first began testing its technology in 2009 around its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

“We’ve been testing at a small scale in fully driverless mode since 2017 — with no trained human driver behind the wheel. And we’ve begun to responsibly ramp up our driverless offerings to riders in the Metro Phoenix area,” Waymo CEO John Krafcik said in Frankfurt, according to The Verge.

In the email posted on Reddit, Waymo said riders who get “matched” with a driverless car will receive a notification in their Waymo app that confirms the car will be without a trained driver. 

However, Waymo riders can’t ask for a driverless vehicle; Matches will be randomly assigned.   

Waymo announced on Tuesday (Oct. 8) that it will use its 3D mapping technology to figure out if its self-driving cars can navigate the heavy traffic congestion in Los Angeles. While there are no immediate plans to launch in the city, the company is sending a small fleet of its Chrysler minivans to L.A. to carry out the preliminary mapping process.

AI Medical Note-Taking Apps Enjoy Healthy Wave of Investment

Last year was a good one for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered medical note-taking apps.

Investment in these apps doubled in 2024, the Financial Times (FT) reported Sunday (Jan. 5), with tech giants and smaller startups scrambling to tap into a $26 billion AI healthcare market.

Startups focused on developing digital “scribes” for the health sector raised $800 million during the year, up from $390 million in 2023, the report said, citing data from PitchBook. Companies, the FT said, are rushing to introduce AI-powered products designed to make it quicker for doctors to take medical notes and bolster patient interactions.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more transformative in 15 years of healthcare than this,” Harpreet Sood, a primary care physician in South London, told the FT.

Sood, a former adviser on tech and innovation to the chief executive of NHS England, has been working with French startup Nabla’s app for the past 15 months. He said that in a full day of seeing 40 patients, traditional note-taking can eat up two hours.

“It’s been remarkable, easily saving three to four minutes of every [10-minute] consultation and really helping to capture the consultation and what it’s about,” he added.

The report noted that medical professionals throughout Great Britain’s National Health Service are testing AI note-taking as a way to save time and improve doctor-patient interactions. The FT pointed to a Mayo Clinic study which found physicians spend around one-third of their workday on administrative tasks, such as paperwork.

Last year saw a number of high-profile product launches by tech companies aimed at easing this issue. For example, Microsoft rolled out a series of cloud-based AI solutions aimed at automating paperwork, improving data integration and boosting patient outcomes. 

“From AI-powered chatbots handling routine queries to advanced algorithms detecting hidden patterns in medical data, these tools could free up healthcare workers to focus on patient care,” PYMNTS wrote.

And Amazon One Medical has said that its AI tools can reduce the time spent on administrative duties by 40% compared to industry standards.

In related news, PYMNTS wrote last week about AI’s emergence as a force in enhancing business processes, with companies using the technology to automate repetitive tasks and more complicated processes.

“The timing couldn’t be better,” the report said. “The back office has long been overlooked in conversations about innovation, but its transformation is no longer optional. With rising uncertainty, regulatory complexities and competitive pressures, companies are seeking ways to streamline operations, improve decision-making and unlock efficiencies.”