What is a robotaxi?

A robotaxi is a ride-hailing car with no human driver. You book it in an app, it arrives empty, and it drives you to your destination on its own. In the levels of self-driving, robotaxis are Level 4: fully driverless, but only inside a defined service area.

How they work

• Sensors: most combine lidar, cameras and other sensors to build a 360-degree picture of the road.
• Mapped zones: they only operate within geo-fenced areas the company has mapped and tested.
• Remote help: operators can assist vehicles remotely when they get stuck.

Who runs them

• Waymo (owned by Google's parent Alphabet) began in the Phoenix area and now serves several US cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles.
• Baidu Apollo Go operates in Chinese cities including Wuhan, Beijing and Chongqing.
• Tesla launched a robotaxi service in Austin in June 2025.
• Others include Zoox (owned by Amazon), Pony.ai and WeRide. GM's Cruise paused its service in 2023.

The open questions

• Safety: incidents such as Cruise's 2023 pedestrian crash, which led to a recall of 950 vehicles, keep safety under close scrutiny.
• Permits: cities and states decide where robotaxis may operate, and rules differ widely.
• Economics: the cars and sensors are expensive, and turning a profit remains a challenge.
• Trust: many riders are still wary of getting in a car with no driver.