Waymo brings driverless rides to Las Vegas — its 15th US city

Waymo started fully driverless paid rides in Las Vegas on September 14, marking the city as its 15th commercial market in the United States. The service initially covers a 24-mile radius around the Las Vegas Strip, with plans to expand further into Clark County. Access is invitation-only for now, with full public availability expected within one to two months via the Waymo app.

The fleet

Waymo is deploying its all-electric Ojai minivans for the majority of Las Vegas trips. The vehicles run sixth-generation Waymo Driver hardware, which the company says is designed to handle difficult weather conditions — a notable spec for a desert city where summer heat and occasional flash floods are real factors. The Nevada Transportation Authority approved Waymo's operator permit in August 2026, clearing the way for commercial service.

A crowded strip

Las Vegas is not short of robotaxi competition. Zoox, Amazon's autonomous vehicle subsidiary, launched rides there in September 2025 — giving it a 12-month head start. Tesla and Uber have also received permits from the Nevada Transportation Authority, meaning the number of driverless cars on the city's roads could climb quickly. Mayor Shelley Berkley has welcomed the wave of autonomous vehicles, citing congestion relief and cleaner transit as priorities.

Waymo's waitlist for Las Vegas already exceeds 100,000 sign-ups, and the company is rolling out access gradually — starting with dozens of vehicles rather than a full fleet. As Engadget reports, the 24-mile service zone and Ojai fleet details were confirmed alongside the Nevada permit timeline. Bloomberg notes this is part of a broader US push that also recently brought Waymo to Denver, San Diego, and Tampa.

Scale and money

Waymo's expansion comes off the back of a $16 billion funding round in February 2026, which valued the Alphabet subsidiary at $126 billion. Its fleet now exceeds 4,000 vehicles across its active cities. Those numbers make it the best-funded autonomous ride-hail operation in the world — though the Las Vegas launch is a reminder that even at that scale, it still has to fight for ground city by city.