Google Self Driving Car 'Waymo' Is Now In Business: Company Also Working On Driverless Truck & Bus

Google has made it more than official. Google's Self Driving Car project is not just a research project anymore. It is a full-fledged business as of December 13, 2016.

Self driving cars portray advancement of technology to a great extent. Google had participated in this initiative with its self driving car project. Now, Google's parent company Alphabet is taking autonomous cars to a new level itself.

It was announced by John Krafcik, CEO of Google's self driving car vertical, in a blog post yesterday, that the company's self driving car is now a full fledged business and not just a research project.

"Since 2009, our prototypes have spent the equivalent of 300 years of driving time on the road and we've led the industry from a place where self-driving cars seem like science fiction to one where city planners all over the world are designing for a self-driven future," wrote Krafcik, in the blog post. "Today, we're taking our next big step by becoming Waymo, a new Alphabet business."

This interesting looking Google self driving car is called the Waymo, which according to Krafcik, stands for a way forward in the direction of mobility. Like Google Fiber, GoogleX, Nest Labs and Google itself, Waymo will now be a business vertical directly under Alphabet.

Waymo is proclaimed by the company to be an efficient self driving technology that helps make life easy and simple for people. "We believe that this technology can begin to reshape some of the ten trillion miles that motor vehicles travel around the world every year, with safer, more efficient and more accessible forms of transport," wrote Krafcik.

Google has been one of the most important players in the self driving car segment. They have tested Waymo on busy streets and highways. Waymo has logged millions of miles driving away on public roads.

There is also news that apart from self driving cars, Google will also be building other classes of vehicle, too. These include buses and delivery trucks. Google is all set to transform the driving world. "In the long term, self-driving technology could be useful in ways the world has yet to imagine, creating many new types of products, jobs, and services," Krafcik blogged.

The fact that the Google self driving car project Waymo has been upgraded to a business stage, indicates that the technology has advanced quite successfully.

This news has been received differently by different tech experts. Some believe it to be a "big deal" and as a revolution in itself. However, some deem it to only be a recognition of sorts, without any actual progress.

However, it is more or likely clarified that Alphabet itself won't get into the car manufacturing business. It will be collaborating with auto manufacturers who will use the Waymo technology to make efficiently driverless vehicles.

Will the Google self driving car Waymo be able to compete with the established players like Tesla or BMW in this segment? We will keep you updated.