Late last year, a delegation from Waymo met with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s staff as she considered measures to legalize the company’s self-driving taxis in New York.
Waymo floated an idea: If New York allowed the company to offer driverless rides to the public, it could provide millions of dollars to benefit taxi drivers and other workers displaced by the technology, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. The proposed funding amounted to about $20 million, one of the people said.
But Waymo still failed to head off opposition to its technology from labor groups. Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, introduced a budget proposal in January that would have allowed Waymo to operate in much of the state, excluding the biggest market, New York City. A month later, she withdrew her support after an outcry from groups that represent drivers, who quickly declared victory.
“Billionaire tech bosses underestimate workers at their own peril,” said Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.
Waymo is increasingly facing political roadblocks as it tries to roll out its self-driving taxis powered by artificial intelligence nationwide. After early successes winning over politicians in California — its home state — and elsewhere, Waymo has stumbled in unlocking some of the biggest markets in the country.
New York abandoned its proposal to allow self-driving taxis earlier this year. New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has said he would heavily weigh the interests of taxi drivers in deciding on rules for the technology. In Illinois, legislation to authorize the service stalled after labor unions protested. And in Washington, the city’s Council has for years delayed a decision about whether to allow robo-taxis.
Those cities and others are central to Waymo’s expansion plans as the company pushes its vehicles onto new roads, according to industry analysts and experts. Waymo recently received $16 billion in new funding from investors for expansion, and the company is far ahead of competitors.
But in a vacuum of federal rules governing the technology, the company must continue to win over local and state officials to expand.
Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft take off when you can use them “anywhere you can go,” said Gil Luria, the head of technology research at D.A. Davidson, a financial services firm. “For Waymo to be successful, eventually they’re going to have to have broad, at least national-level, regulatory acceptance.”
Waymo’s ambitions have helped start one of the first political fights over A.I.’s real-world ability to replace human workers. Tech executives have proclaimed that A.I. could put many people out of work, raising fears around the world. California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, last month ordered the state to study how to protect workers from automation.
A.I.’s potential for disruption has taken on new significance before the November midterm elections. Voters have grown increasingly wary of the technology’s potential to increase energy costs and disrupt the broader economy.
That means Waymo must confront anxieties about A.I. in addition to specific questions about the future of transportation, said Justin Kintz, the company’s global head of public policy.
“Our strategy remains the same. We want to meet people and governments where they are,” Mr. Kintz said. “And we know that some of them will take more time than others. But we’re committed to our strategy. We’re committed to earning trust.”
The company has raced ahead of rivals, including Zoox, which is owned by Amazon, and Tesla, Elon Musk’s electric vehicle manufacturer. Waymo offers driverless rides in nine cities in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida and Tennessee, and it works with Uber to offer rides in Atlanta and Austin, Texas. Passengers now pay for half a million rides every week, more than double a year ago.
Waymo, which got its start as Google’s experimental self-driving car project in 2009, has long been at the forefront of shaping driverless vehicle laws. It is still owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
Google advocated for some of the industry’s earliest legislative victories. In total, 26 states — including Texas, Florida and California — now allow vehicles to operate without drivers, according to the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association.
But 24 other states allow only testing or have no laws governing robo-taxis. Momentum to legalize the technology in those states has slowed, and legislative efforts this year that would have allowed autonomous vehicles in states like Maryland and Virginia failed to advance.
One big hurdle: safety concerns. Despite Waymo’s argument that its cars cause fewer serious crashes than those driven by a human, critics frequently point to problems. A Waymo car struck a child near a California elementary school in January, resulting in minor injuries. Another car killed a cat in San Francisco.
Waymo last month briefly suspended driverless service on freeways and paused rides in several cities over concerns about the cars’ ability to handle flooded roadways.
Labor groups that represent the drivers of taxis, limousines, Ubers, Lyfts and trucks have emerged as some of Waymo’s most vocal opponents. And Waymo’s attempts to court those unions have had little success.
In January, the company approached the Teamsters in Illinois with a draft legislative proposal to legalize its cars. Waymo again floated the prospect of creating a fund for displaced workers.
“Questions around the future of work and automation as it relates to autonomous vehicles are really important questions,” said Mr. Kintz, the Waymo executive. “They’re long-term questions. But we want to engage now with them before we get to a stage of potential disruption, because we want to try to put people at ease.”
But the union was skeptical that a fund would address its concerns given how many people drive for a living, said John T. Coli Jr., the secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 727 in Chicago.
Lawmakers failed to pass the proposal before the state’s legislative session ended this month.
In Washington, a major market where hundreds of federal policymakers could use the service, the company has adopted campaign-style tactics to overcome inertia.
Waymo first tested its cars in the nation’s capital with human drivers in 2024. But the District of Columbia Council hasn’t approved operations of a commercial robo-taxi service.
So Waymo has taken matters into its own hands. In February, it launched a letter-writing campaign, asking users to write local officials. In mid-April, Waymo sponsored an event in the trendy Union Market neighborhood, urging several dozen attendees to press Waymo’s case with officials.
Two weeks later, the chair of the Council’s transportation committee introduced legislation that would allow Waymo to operate in the city.
But Waymo’s most significant political struggle may lie in one of the world’s biggest ride-share markets: New York.
City and state officials allowed Waymo to test its vehicles with drivers in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn starting last year. But state lawmakers needed to update the laws to allow Waymo’s driverless taxis to offer rides to the public.
Mr. Mamdani, a Democrat, has long advocated for the city’s taxi drivers. In January, at an event with many of those drivers, he said he took the “arrival of autonomous vehicles very seriously.”
Waymo initially found a more supportive politician in Ms. Hochul. Her short-lived proposal would have legalized robo-taxis in the state outside of New York City, where Mr. Mamdani must also bless their operations. But her office has privately said supporters of her proposal, like Waymo, did not match the fierce campaign to quash it, said two people familiar with their efforts.
A spokesman for Ms. Hochul said, “It was clear that the support was not there to advance this proposal.” Waymo said it would keep pushing for driverless vehicles in the state.
Waymo’s ability to test autonomous driving in New York City expired on March 31. Its cars are still cruising around the city collecting data — now fully driven by humans.
The company is playing a long game, Mr. Kintz said. “Every time someone from New York takes a Waymo in California, Phoenix or Miami,” it makes it more likely those riders will demand approval from lawmakers in their own city as their fear of missing out grows.
“That interest — that FOMO — will only grow as we grow,” he added.
