Waymo becomes a company
Google spun its self-driving project into a separate company under a new name, declaring a move from research to a service.
Why it matters
Six years of research work turned into a business, and the industry got its first example of how that is done.
The name means a new way forward in motion. At the point of the spin-off the project's cars had driven more than three million kilometres autonomously. Becoming a company also changed the goal: not a demonstration of possibility but a paid service with a schedule and a coverage area. Waymo One started two years later.