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Waymo Targets 2028 Singapore Launch for Autonomous Ride-Hailing Service
Alphabet's autonomous driving unit, Waymo, announced on Friday its plan to launch an all-electric, autonomous ride-hailing service in Singapore by 2028. The move marks the company's first entry into the Southeast Asian market as it continues its global expansion.
Phased Rollout Plan
According to the company's statement, the deployment will follow a multi-year timeline to adapt its technology to the local environment. Waymo is working directly with Singapore's transport ministry and the Land Transport Authority on the initiative.
The key phases of the rollout include:
- An initial fleet of all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will be deployed in Singapore in the coming months.
- In 2027, trained autonomous specialists will begin manual driving to map local road geometries and acclimate the Waymo Driver AI to regional weather, including monsoon patterns.
- A full public launch of the ride-hailing service is anticipated in 2028.
AdStrategic Expansion and Market Context
Singapore's Minister for Transport, Jeffrey Siow, welcomed the development. "Waymo brings world-class technology and operational expertise to Singapore, and will move us towards our vision of creating new transport options for Singaporeans," he said in a statement.
This announcement follows Waymo's disclosure earlier this week of its plans to launch Japan’s first fully autonomous commercial taxi service in Tokyo by 2027. The expansion efforts underscore the company's strategy to establish a presence in key international markets amid growing competition from rivals like Amazon’s Zoox and Tesla in the self-driving vehicle sector.
Waymo, which was valued at $126 billion following a $16 billion fundraising round in February, continues to scale its robotaxi fleet and operations.
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