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Waymo said on Monday it will launch its robotaxi service in Las Vegas, San Diego and Detroit next year, marking its biggest geographic expansion yet. The Alphabet unit will also start driving its new Zeekr-built vehicles this week, alongside its existing Jaguar I-PACE fleet, it added. The new Zeekr model, developed with Chinese automaker Geely, are designed specifically for robotaxi use cases and will be rolled out gradually as the company expands its service. Companies like Waymo, Tesla and Amazon's Zoox are investing billions into self-driving technology. Tesla launched its long-awaited robotaxi service earlier this year, while Waymo already operates driverless services in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, and has completed more than 10 million trips. Waymo plans to launch the service in Las Vegas next summer, while in San Diego, it is working with local officials and first responders to secure deployment permits. In Detroit, the company said its winter-weather testing in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has strengthened its ability to operate year-round, where it has long maintained engineering operations.
