February 12, 2026
Robotaxis and roast battles
Beginning autonomous operations with the 6th-generation Waymo Driver
Waymo goes full robotaxi; memes roast Elon, ex-Cruise laments, myths get busted
TLDR: Waymo’s 6th‑gen driver is launching fully driverless service, aiming safer, cheaper rides in more cities. Reactions range from ‘Elon in shambles’ and ex‑Cruise regret to skeptics parsing the title and users debunking remote‑driver myths, arguing sensor‑heavy tech is the key to making autonomy real.
Waymo says its 6th‑generation “Driver” is ready to run fully on its own—no human backup—bringing cheaper, safer robotaxi rides to more cities and even snowy chaos. The tech flex is big: high‑res cameras, radar, and laser “lidar” working together, built on nearly 200 million autonomous miles. But the real show is in the comments. One camp is popping popcorn with “Elon in shambles” memes, reading Waymo’s multi‑sensor approach as a dunk on camera‑only rivals. A former Cruise employee sighs, baffled GM pulled the plug just as Waymo proves this is actually happening. Meanwhile, skeptics jump on the headline, assuming “beginning autonomous operations” means it wasn’t truly driverless before—prompting clarifiers who explain this is a new release going live, not a switch from human pilots. There’s myth‑busting too: rumors of “remote drivers in the Philippines” get shut down by folks pointing to Waymo’s Fleet Response, which advises cars rather than joystick‑driving them. And of course, acronym snark: someone giggles at Waymo’s EARs (external audio receivers). Bottom line: the crowd is split between victory laps, corporate regret, and headline pedantry—but most agree the sensor‑stack swagger and cost cuts could be Waymo’s real power move.
Key Points
- •Waymo is beginning fully autonomous operations with its 6th‑generation Waymo Driver to expand service across more cities and vehicle platforms.
- •The system targets lower costs while maintaining safety and operates in more diverse environments, including extreme winter weather.
- •Waymo cites nearly 200 million fully autonomous miles in 10+ major city cores and freeways as experience underpinning the design.
- •A custom multi‑modal sensing suite—high‑resolution cameras, advanced imaging radar, and lidar—feeds the system to handle rare long‑tail events.
- •The vision system’s 17‑MP imagers and custom silicon enable higher performance than the 5th generation with less than half the number of cameras, plus integrated cleaning and sensor redundancy.