Confirmed developments Autonomous mobility activity in early 2026 is being shaped by two parallel moves: geographic scaling of robotaxi services and the emergence of platform-style offerings aimed at helping multiple autonomy developers commercialize.

On the deployment side, Waymo has opened its self-driving ride service in four new U.S. cities: Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Orlando. The rollout is starting with invited users, with broader access expected later as operations scale. Autoweek characterized the expansion as bringing Waymo’s U.S. city footprint to 10 and reported that Waymo already operates paid robotaxi services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. Waymo has also outlined scale ambitions, with a statement attributed to co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana saying the company is on track to serve over one million rides per week by the end of this year. As of September 2025, Waymo said its vehicles had driven 127 million rider-only miles without a human behind the wheel.

Other reported Waymo timelines underscore that expansion is extending into additional major metros. CNBC reported that Waymo will make its Waymo One service available in Washington, D.C., in 2026. CNBC also reported that Waymo plans to bring robotaxi service to Dallas in 2026 and that Avis Budget Group will manage Waymo’s fleet in Dallas under a partnership. Taken together with Waymo’s invite-only openings in multiple cities, these reports point to a scaling pattern that mixes phased public access with operational partnerships for fleet management.