【Wolverine XXX Parody】

After it looked to be Wolverine XXX Parodyputting our self-driving dreams on hold (for a moment, at least), Google parent company Alphabet has revealed its real plans for driverless cars. The project, previously one of the major endeavors of Google X, is getting spun out into its own independent company.

Dubbed Waymo, the new company will continue development of the autonomous-driving tech that has been in the works at Google for the last eight years. According to a Medium post from the new company's CEO, John Krafcik, Google prototypes have spent the equivalent of 300 years of time driving on roads since 2009 — data Waymo will build on as it continues to move toward its goal of making fully autonomous cars a reality.

SEE ALSO: Google's data centers, offices will use 100% renewable energy in 2017

Waymo's first announcement was about completing its first fully, completely self-driven ride -- one where the passenger rode in the autonomous care with no test driver on board, which took place last year in Austin, Texas. The ride was captured on video:

Waymo will continue to hone the self-driving tech by logging miles in Austin and the three other cities in which the project has been active: Mountain View, California; Kirkland, Washington and Metro Phoenix, Arizona.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Like previous Alphabet spin-offs, Waymo's "graduation" to an independent company brings with it more freedom and pressure. The company is free to make deals and move forward as a stand-alone business, although it will need to justify itself financially, at least in the long run. One of Waymo's stated goals is to "commercialize this technology and build products that can help millions of people," according to press materials.

"Our next step as Waymo will be to let people use our vehicles to do everyday things like run errands, commute to work, or get safely home after a night on the town," wrote Krafcik.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Earlier on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that "people familiar with the matter" claim the tech giant is planning a minivan ride-sharing service with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), to debut as early as the end of 2017. That makes sense since Google and FCA partnered earlier this year with autonomous technology in mind, adding 100 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrids to the Google fleet.

When reached by Mashable, Google reps had no comment about that report.

Through these moves, Alphabet is ramping up its efforts to change transportation as we know it today. With autonomous cars and a fleet of shared vans, it looks like the concept of "driving" could become a thing of the past.

---

Featured Video For You

---

This super precise handwriting robot is so satisfying to watch

---

Topics Self-Driving Cars

• Shopping
• Tech
• Games
• Deals
• Life
• Social Good
• Digital Culture
• Entertainment

• NYT mini crossword answers for April 24, 2025
• Morrissey and an Australian minister have Twitter beef over animal cruelty
• A simple Twitter change has already led to confusion and frustration
• Apple starts letting Chinese users pay for apps using Alipay
• NYT Connections hints and answers for April 26: Tips to solve 'Connections' #685.
• Twitter India head Rishi Jaitly quits company
• Giphy raises $72 million for its GIF
• 'Jane the Virgin' showrunner on Jane and Michael's big moment
• Operation Rock Wallaby rains food down on wildlife hurt by bushfires
• Apple gives the world what it needs, a facepalm emoji

• John Cena to make his publishing debut with new children's book series
• Budweiser, Stella Artois devote Super Bowl ads to clean water efforts
• Janet Jackson fans slam Justin Timberlake's Super Bowl halftime show
• Buttcoin subreddit mocks Bitcoin troubles
• What critics thought of 'Black Panther': Review round up
• Milo Ventimiglia talks Crock
• AMZN earnings: Jeff Bezos says 2018 Amazon to 'double down' on Alexa
• 'Bachelor' contestant reported as a missing person for lying to her mom. Probably.
• Mozzarella stick chips are here and how have we lived without them?
• 'This is Us': Why we're addicted to crying with this show about Jack's death

• Apple is reportedly still working on smart glasses of some kind
• Twitter India head Rishi Jaitly quits company
• Do or die: What you need to know about World Series Game 6
• Braveheart England cricketer's artificial leg comes off during play, still makes stunning save
• The cicadas aren't invading the U.S.
• 'The Flash' movie loses its second director due to 'creative differences'
• Future car displays will let drivers point at the windscreen and swipe to select the next song
• Shonda Rhimes was Beyoncé for Halloween and, naturally, slayed
• Best Amazon deal: Get a $5 Amazon credit when you spend $30 on home essentials
• One of the biggest rumors about next year's iPhone may have just been confirmed

• NYT Connections hints and answers for May 2: Tips to solve 'Connections' #691.
• Adele explains why she doesn't support Trump, we bet he's upset
• 10 of the hottest Samsung Note7 costumes this Halloween
• New MacBook Pros might come in 2017 with lower price, 32GB of RAM
• Best Sony deal: Save $100 on WH
• LeBron James trolled the Warriors like a true champ for Halloween
• 3 ways your brain tricks you into using the wrong credit cards (and how to stop it)
• Irish weather reporter pulls the most bizarrely brilliant Halloween prank
• This is the fattest of the extremely fat bears
• Apple hikes MacBook prices in India