Alphabet’s Waymo unit slows self-driving trucking

Waymo, the self-driving unit owned by Alphabet Inc., is slowing the development of autonomous trucking that’s being done by its Via subsidiary.

“With our decision to focus on ride-hailing, we’ll push back the timeline on our commercial and operational efforts on trucking, as well as most of our technical development on that business unit,” the company said in a statement on July 26. “We’ll continue our collaboration with our strategic partner, Daimler Truck North America, to advance technical development of an autonomous truck platform.”  

The move comes as Alphabet is prioritizing financial discipline. The company said it promoted Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat to president and chief investment officer, saying that it will stick to the more thrifty culture she has instilled.

Self-driving technology has taken a step back in the past several years. Autonomous ventures like Waymo have spent billions of dollars in capital only to bring in little, if any revenue. Waymo has made more progress monetizing its robotaxi business than it has in trucking.

Waymo Via has a partnership with Uber Freight to develop autonomous long-haul trucking as a business, making it one of the few self-driving companies that have worked to develop robotaxi technology and highway trucking.

The company said that it’s focusing its efforts and investment on ride-hailing, “given the tremendous momentum and substantial commercial opportunity we’re seeing” on that front.