Perplexity AI’s Desi CEO makes a ‘YouTube Music’ request to Google CEO Sundar Pichai
Google-parent company Alphabet‘s Waymo is experiencing rapid growth in its robotaxi service. CEO Sundar Pichai revealed on X that the company now provides over 200,000 paid rides weekly, a significant leap from 10,000 rides just two years ago and a doubling from 100,000 in August, prompting a reply from Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas.
“Exciting new @Waymo milestone: Waymo One is now serving 200k+ paid trips each week across LA, Phoenix and SF – that’s 20x growth in less than two years! Up next: Austin, Atlanta and Miami,” Pichai said.
According to a report by TechCrunch, complementing this, Waymo’s autonomous system logs over a million miles weekly. Further expansion is planned, with commercial services launching in Austin and Atlanta in partnership with Uber in 2025, and Miami in early 2026.
In a reply to Pichai’s post, Srinivas made a request to streamline music listening experience in the self-driving taxi.
“Would be great if you made it easier to play your own songs or playlists while on a Waymo. The current integration to play YT Music isn’t quite good,” he said.
Sundar Pichai bets big on Waymo
In his remarks during the 2024 Q4 earnings call, Pichai shared the company’s momentum and innovation. He said:
Finally, a few words on Waymo which made tremendous progress last year, safely serving more than 4 million passenger trips. It is now averaging over 150,000 trips each week, and growing.
Looking ahead, Waymo will be expanding its network and operations partnerships to open up new markets, including Austin and Atlanta this year and Miami next year. And in the coming weeks, Waymo One vehicles will arrive in Tokyo for their first international road trip.
We’re also developing the sixth-generation Waymo Driver, which will significantly lower hardware costs.
