Waymo, the autonomous driving company under Alphabet Inc., recently announced it has begun deploying its sixth-generation Waymo Driver system on its new Ojai autonomous ride-hailing vehicles, initially offering rides to employees. The Ojai is built on a mass-produced vehicle from Chinese automaker Geely and features a next-generation hardware and software suite that is both more cost-effective and higher-performing, with notably improved capabilities in adverse weather conditions. Waymo stated that this upgrade will not only help reduce operational costs but also strengthen its leadership position in the U.S. autonomous driving sector by expanding fleet scale and enhancing technological reliability, thereby increasing user retention.