Waymo, owned by Google’s parent Alphabet, will bring its driverless, all-electric ride-hailing service to Singapore in 2028, marking the US company's first move into Southeast Asia.
The rollout will run through the Waymo app, delivered in partnership with Singapore's Ministry of Transport and Land Transport Authority, and will unfold across three stages.
An initial fleet of all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles is due to arrive in the country within the coming months as the firm establishes local operations.
From 2027, trained autonomous specialists will drive the vehicles manually to help calibrate the Waymo Driver system to local conditions, including road layouts and monsoon weather.
Commercial service to the public is slated to begin in 2028.
The vehicles rely on a combination of LiDAR, radar and cameras to provide 360-degree detection, which Waymo says is built to identify and anticipate the movements of pedestrians, cyclists and other road users in busy urban settings.
Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said: “Singapore has built one of the safest, most efficient, and most forward-thinking transportation ecosystems in the world. Their focus on reliability, sustainability, and human-centric progress directly mirrors how we have built Waymo’s technology and service.”
Waymo, valued at $126bn after raising $16bn in February, has continued expanding its robotaxi operations.
Singapore is the newest addition to its international pipeline, which already features planned launches in Tokyo, London and Munich.
The company said it is applying the same “methodical, safety-first framework” it has used when rolling out services across US markets.
In support of the expansion, Waymo pointed to its US track record, citing more than 20 million fully autonomous rides, over 300 million fully autonomous kilometres driven, and a 94% drop in injury-causing crashes compared with human drivers in the American cities where it runs fully driverless services.
The company described the service as a complement to Singapore's public transport system rather than a substitute, pointing to first- and last-mile travel as one application.
It noted that more than a third of riders in San Francisco, one of its current markets, are picked up or dropped off close to transit stations.
Singapore Transport Minister and Second Minister for Finance Jeffrey Siow added: “Singapore welcomes Waymo’s entry as our newest autonomous vehicle operator. Waymo brings world-class technology and operational expertise to Singapore, and will move us towards our vision of creating new transport options for Singaporeans. The partnership will also strengthen our ecosystem and create new capabilities and jobs here.”
The move comes after WeRide and Grab launched their Ai.R (Autonomously Intelligent Ride) service to the public in Punggol, Singapore, in April this year.
