Waymo Grows Again, Extending into Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto, & Sunnyvale

Waymo continues to expand its robotaxi service. While it’s been in San Francisco for a while, Waymo just extended its services down the region into the heart of Silicon Valley, where it all started. As of yesterday, Waymo is offering its Waymo One robotaxi services in Mountain View (the home of Google), Los Altos, Palo Alto, and parts of Sunnyvale.

I remember the first time I saw Google’s self-driving cars. I was visiting the Bay Area with my wife and noticed a vehicle in Palo Alto with a weird looking thing spinning around on top and a Google logo on the door. Apologies for the poor video quality of my camera at the time, but this was mid-2012 and it was what it was:

As you can see, “self-driving car” was also written on the front doors. This is where the seeds of Waymo were planted. Now that the technology has sprouted and is maturing, the company is launching robotaxi services back in these initial testing neighborhoods and cities.

In post a post on LinkedIn, the company wrote the following yesterday: “Thousands of delightful memories made on the road, yet nothing beats returning home. We’re back to where our story began in the South Bay, gradually welcoming riders in Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto, and parts of Sunnyvale starting today. 👀 Keep an eye on the app to see when it’s your turn to ride!”

Waymo posted a bit more on X, starting with “We’ve made millions of miles of memories over the past 15+ years, but today is special. We’re returning to where the journey began, gradually opening our doors to our first public riders in Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto, and parts of Sunnyvale.”

We’ve made millions of miles of memories over the past 15+ years, but today is special. We’re returning to where the journey began, gradually opening our doors to our first public riders in Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto, and parts of Sunnyvale. pic.twitter.com/DhWFtBdL4A

— Waymo (@Waymo) March 11, 2025

A followup tweet (if we can still call them that) showed the exact service area Waymo One is expanding into:

We’ll gradually add riders to this new service area over time, as we work to bring Waymo One to more of the Bay Area. Keep an eye on the app if you’re an area local. Who’s ready to ride? pic.twitter.com/egHh2claxJ

— Waymo (@Waymo) March 11, 2025

One has to assume Waymo One will be quite popular in Silicon Valley. It’s also a bit funny that the service hadn’t been operating there until yesterday. I lived in Sunnyvale for a few months, and it seems like this area should be relatively easy for Waymo robotaxis to operate in. But it’s interesting to see each step of Waymo’s expansion. I wonder how many more cities Waymo will move into in 2025.