Transportation

Waymo expands to Denver and Seattle with Zeekr vans

Ken Metral

03 Sep 2025 — 1 min read

Credit: Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding Limited

Waymo is widening its footprint in the U.S. with the addition of Denver, Colorado, and Seattle, Washington to its testing map. Starting this week, the company will deploy both its Jaguar I-Pace electric SUVs and Zeekr robotaxi vans in the two cities.

Initially, the vehicles will be human-driven as part of early testing and mapping. Waymo plans to introduce its autonomous driving technology in the coming months, with the goal of offering commercial robotaxi rides in Denver by 2026 and in the Seattle metro area as soon as regulatory approval allows.

Testing in Challenging Conditions

Unlike Phoenix and Los Angeles, where Waymo has already established services, Denver and Seattle present new challenges thanks to their snow, rain, and strong winds. These conditions will provide critical data to refine Waymo’s AI-driven navigation systems and prove reliability in diverse climates.

A Growing U.S. Presence

The expansion follows Waymo’s recent announcement that its fleet has surpassed 2,000 robotaxis nationwide. Current deployments include:

800 vehicles in the San Francisco Bay Area
500 in Los Angeles
400 in Phoenix
100 in Austin
“Dozens” in Atlanta

Waymo also has plans for Dallas, Miami, and Washington, D.C., with launches expected in 2026, and it recently secured a permit to begin testing in New York City.

Road Trips and Market Exploration

In addition to its major hubs, Waymo has staged short-term road trips in cities like Philadelphia and has announced plans to do the same in Las Vegas, San Diego, Houston, Orlando, and San Antonio. These exploratory deployments help the company understand local driving environments before investing heavily in long-term operations.

Pushing Toward Nationwide Service

By adding Denver and Seattle, Waymo is signaling that its commercial rollout strategy goes beyond fair-weather cities. Testing in harsher conditions could pave the way for robotaxi services in northern states and regions where weather has been one of the toughest hurdles for autonomous vehicles.

CoreWeave acquires AI agent-training startup OpenPipe

CoreWeave, the fast-growing provider of cloud servers for AI model training, announced on Wednesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire OpenPipe, a two-year-old Y Combinator–backed startup specializing in reinforcement learning tools for enterprise AI development. The acquisition underscores CoreWeave’s strategy to move further up the AI

Instagram launches its first iPad app

After more than a decade of requests, Instagram has finally launched an official iPad app, giving users a proper large-screen experience instead of relying on the iPhone app or the web version. A Big-Screen Experience The new iPad app opens directly to the Reels screen, letting users scroll through short

New Mexico invests $315 million to build a quantum computing hub

Nearly 80 years after hosting the world’s first atomic bomb tests, New Mexico is aiming to shape another transformative technology: quantum computing. The state announced plans Tuesday to invest $315 million into quantum companies, fabrication facilities, and infrastructure, including a quantum network to connect labs and businesses. Building a

Fizz, the college social app, adds grocery delivery

Fizz, the anonymous social app for college students, is moving into grocery delivery thanks to a new partnership with Gopuff, the company told TechCrunch. The integration will allow students to order everything from late-night snacks to weekly groceries directly within the Fizz app, with delivery times as fast as 15