Alphabet's Waymo is approved to expand its self-driving ride-hailing service to San Jose.

Alphabet's subsidiary Waymo has received approval to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service to more areas in the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Jose. In March of this year, Waymo submitted an application to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) seeking approval for its latest passenger safety plan, a key step in obtaining permission to operate autonomous vehicles in a wider range. On Monday, this expansion plan was approved, extending Waymo's autonomous driving coverage from San Francisco to the entire peninsula. In a statement on Monday, Waymo said: "We are thrilled to announce that the CPUC has approved our application allowing us to operate fully autonomous commercial ride-hailing services in the South Bay and nearly all of San Jose! While this won't change our operations in the short term, we look forward to bringing the benefits of Waymo One to more areas in the Bay Area in the future." As Waymo continues to expand, the California Department of Motor Vehicles is considering new rules for testing and deploying autonomous vehicles. In April of this year, Alphabet reported that Waymo is currently providing over 250,000 paid autonomous taxi rides per week in the United States. That same month, Waymo and Toyota announced a preliminary partnership to explore integrating autonomous taxi technology into personal vehicles.