[ad_1]
After five and a half years running Waymo, the Alphabet subsidiary developing autonomous driving technology, John Krafcik decided it was time for someone else to run the business. In fact, two senior Waymo executives, Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov, will become the company’s co-CEOs.
In a blog post explaining his decision to step down as CEO, but stay with Waymo as an advisor, Krafcik wrote: “Now with the fully self-sustaining Waymo One helpline open to everyone in our area launch of Metro Phoenix, and with the fifth generation Waymo Driver being prepared for deployment in freight transportation and delivery, this is a wonderful opportunity for me to hand over to Tekedra and Dmitri as co- CEO. “
Tekedra Mawakana ascends to the most senior position four years after joining Waymo and most recently as Chief Operating Officer. Dmitri Dolgov started his career at Waymo in 2009 when the company was formed and known as Google’s Self-Driving Car Project. He becomes co-CEO after having most recently been CTO of Waymo.
In a joint statement sent to Waymo employees, Mawakana and Dolgov wrote, “We are committed to working alongside you to build, deploy and market the Waymo pilot and drive the success of our incredible team and this company. road and opportunity ahead of us. “
While Waymo has established itself as a leading developer of autonomous vehicle technology with more than 20 million kilometers driven on public roads and more than 20 billion kilometers driven in simulation, the company’s conservative approach in terms of expanding operations frustrated those who hoped to see self-driving. vehicles throughout the country. This deliberate approach was a central part of Krafcik’s tenure as CEO.
In his meetings with journalists, Krafcik regularly stressed the importance of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles being as safe as possible. In March 2018, after a pedestrian was struck and killed by an Uber autonomous vehicle being tested on a public highway in Arizona, Krafcik told CNBC, “Part of our responsibility at Waymo is to make sure that the world, the cities we operate in and the regulators who regulate those cities understand our technology. “
Autonomous ridesharing service Waymo One has been offering rides in the Phoenix area since 2017. As it has grown from a pilot program with a limited number of pre-screened customers to a rideshare service open to the public, using a fleet of functioning vehicles. without driver. Although Waymo has discussed expanding the Waymo One autonomous transportation program to other cities for public use, the company has not given a definitive plan to do so.
Meanwhile, Waymo Via, which is designed to move goods independently, is being tested with trucking centers in Arizona and Texas. Late last year, Waymo and Daimler’s Freightliner struck a deal to develop fully autonomous trucks.
–CNBC’s Meghan Reeder contributed to this article.
[ad_2]
Source link