Waymo and Toyota are dating. If they get serious, a new autonomous vehicle could be created.

Core Insights - Waymo and Toyota have signed a preliminary agreement to explore the development of an autonomous vehicle platform aimed at ride-hailing services and integrating self-driving technology into consumer vehicles [1][2][3] Group 1: Partnership Goals - The collaboration aims to combine Waymo's technology with Toyota's automotive expertise to create a new autonomous vehicle platform for a robotaxi service [3] - The partnership also seeks to incorporate Waymo's self-driving technology into future Toyota consumer vehicles [3] Group 2: Company Statements - Toyota's executive, Hiroki Nakajima, emphasized the company's commitment to zero traffic accidents and a shared vision with Waymo for advancing safety through automated driving technology [4] Group 3: Market Context - The announcement follows Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai's comments regarding Waymo's interest in personally owned autonomous vehicles, marking a significant public acknowledgment of this direction [5] - Waymo has transitioned from a research phase to commercial operations, currently offering robotaxi services in multiple cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix [6] Group 4: Operational Changes - Recently, Waymo has begun partnering with other companies for operational aspects, such as hiring Moove for fleet management in Phoenix and collaborating with Uber for robotaxi operations in Austin and Atlanta [7]