New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) has reportedly pulled a proposal to allow robotaxis to operate in other areas within the state outside of New York City.
Kathy Hochul Halts Robotaxi Expansion
The Governor pulled the plan after presenting it in a State Of The State document last month, where Hochul hinted at expanding Robotaxis outside of New York City, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The proposal had outlined that AV companies wanting to expand outside of NYC would be “required to submit applications that demonstrate local support for AV deployment and adherence to the highest possible safety standards.”
Governor Hochul’s Office didn’t immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.
How This Affects Waymo, Tesla
The pullback comes as Alphabet Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Waymo had begun testing its Robotaxi in the Big Apple last year amid pushback from local taxi drivers, who said that the service posed a threat to their livelihoods.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), too, had posted a job listing looking for a test driver to help the Elon Musk-led automaker conduct trials for its Robotaxi in the city, offering up to $33/hour to the ideal candidate.
Waymo and Tesla didn’t immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.
The move could pose a challenge for Waymo, which has outlined the goal of expanding its service across multiple cities in the U.S., as well as other parts of the world, including London. The company also secured an investment boost in its latest funding round, raising $16 billion, which took its valuation to $126 billion.
Meanwhile, Tesla also unveiled the production-ready version of the Cybercab, as well as secured a key waiver from the Federal Communications Commission to use Ultra-wideband (UWB) radios for its wireless charging stations.
Benzinga Edge Rankings show that Alphabet scores well on the Momentum metric and offers a favorable price trend in the Long Term.
Price Action: GOOGL slid 0.16% to $302.85 at Market close on Thursday, but bounced back 0.76% to $305.14 during overnight trading.
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