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Autonomous rideshare rivals Waymo and Cruise have both reportedly applied for permits to charge passengers for self-driving rides in the San Francisco Bay area. Some of the applications are still under review, but it could be a major step toward autonomous rideshare vehicles operating as commonplace soon.

June 7 update: As of June 4, Cruise has been authorized by the CPUC to provide driverless autonomous vehicle passenger service in test vehicles. According to the CPUC press release:

Cruise is the first entrant into the CPUC’s Driverless Pilot program, in which passengers can ride in a test vehicle that operates without a driver in the vehicle. Cruise may not charge passengers for any rides in test AVs.

It now appears Cruise has a jump on Waymo, at least in cutting through the red tape with permits, but it’s still waiting for its driverless deployment permit from the DMV. Waymo has received a permit from the CPUC, but is currently authorized for driving permits only, not driverless like Cruise.


Waymo was launched in 2009 by Google’s parent company Alphabet, Inc., as a self-driving car project. In 2016, the Google project was officially renamed Waymo, derived from “a new way forward in mobility.” Since then, Waymo has tested its various self-driving vehicles in several states. Furthermore, it has been charging driverless rides for people in Chandler, Arizona, since 2019, apart from a slight halt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cruise is a younger company founded in 2013 in San Francisco. In 2016, General Motors (GM) purchased Cruise, focusing on making the automaker’s Bolt EV fully autonomous, backed by $14 million in funding. While both Waymo and Cruise have operated their respective autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, these rides have remained on a testing basis only up to this point.

Waymo and Cruise apply for DMV permits in CA

According to a report from Reuters, state documents in California reveal that both Waymo and Cruise have applied for permits to begin charging for autonomous rideshare services in San Francisco. Waymo applied for said permits on January 19 of this year, while Cruise followed suit on March 29. According to the report, the California DMV is still reviewing these applications and has not offered a timeline of when they will offer a decision.

In its application, Waymo stated it has logged over 83,000 autonomous miles in the San Francisco area, although its total autonomous miles are much higher. Since Cruise is headquartered in SF and has stayed focused on that geographical area since its inception, its permit application claims 2 million logged autonomous miles in San Fran alone.

Waymo Cruise
Waymo’s two current autonomous offerings – the Chrysler Pacifica minivan and the Jaguar I-Pace SUV

Waymo told Reuters that approval of the permit in California would allow the company to begin operating paid rides in autonomous vehicles, although there will be a driver behind the wheel, at least to begin. Waymo also said it might even switch off autonomous mode within its Chrysler Pacifica or Jaguar I-Pace models driving in especially tricky areas, such as freeway ramps and construction zones. This could also apply to less than ideal driving conditions, such as heavy rain and wet roads.

Cruise also stated it could possibly limit its self-driving deployment to more specific routes focused on operating in “non-inclement weather conditions.” The documents also show that Cruise initially plans to operate during the late evening to early morning hours, at speeds up to 30 mph. Waymo, on the other hand, stated plans to operate around the clock with speeds up to 65 mph.

Voyager Cruise self-driving
Cruise’s upcoming Origin vehicle

DMV approval is just the start

While permit approval from the California DMV will be crucial to both Waymo and Cruise in deploying paid autonomous rides, there’s another step after that. Both companies will then be required to apply for a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) before either can begin charging passengers.

At this point, neither tech company has revealed when they intend to launch these rideshare services. A lot will depend on if and when they are approved by the DMV and how quickly they can get that additional permit from the CPUC.

While both Waymo and Cruise offer the same service using similar technology, both have shared very different deployment plans. Contrary to the previous statement of Waymo beginning with drivers behind the wheel, Cruise has stated it is expecting to deploy its vehicles sans humans driver. That could be a big reason behind its decision to operate at non-peak hours at a much slower pace than Waymo.

Check back with our autonomous driving guide for the latest news surrounding these permit applications, as well as self-driving updates from all the automakers.

Electrek’s Take

Regardless of when it actually happens, the reality is that autonomous rideshare implementation is inevitable. We’re also likely to see this tech roll out from companies like Waymo and Cruise before consumer EVs, too. This is based on the strategy of shorter rides at lower speeds that can even be controlled through geofencing. Having major backing from companies like Google, GM, and Honda certainly helps the cause.

The decision to begin with drivers behind the wheel as a safety net feels like a smart move for Waymo, especially as it has much more ambitious plans for an initial rollout than Cruise, pending permits, of course. At the same time, Cruise is taking its own unique approach by skipping the driver altogether and operating at times and in areas with less risk — perhaps a smaller sample size of data but potentially more explicit without driver interference.

Both strategies could prove effective if approved, but they are not alone. Startup Nuro already has the DMV permit from California and is working on autonomous food delivery. So there’s certainly optimism that these companies could see DMV approval, helping the technology lay another paver closer toward cities flush with robotaxis. Driverless burrito delivery sounds pretty cool.


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Dolly Parton is ‘going to be just fine’, country singer’s sister says

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Dolly Parton is 'going to be just fine', country singer's sister says

Dolly Parton’s sister has said that the country singer is “going to be just fine” after worrying fans by asking for prayers.

Freida Parton had asked people for prayers for the Jolene and I Will Always Love You singer on Tuesday.

“Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately,” Ms Parton wrote in a Facebook post.

“I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been [led] to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.

“She’s strong, she’s loved, and with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!”

Parton performs during her concert in Ijsselhallen in Zwolle, Netherlands, in 2007. Pic: AP
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Parton performs during her concert in Ijsselhallen in Zwolle, Netherlands, in 2007. Pic: AP

After shocked fans took to social media expressing worry about Parton’s health, her sister said in a second post on Wednesday: “I want to clear something up. I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly.

“She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister.”

More on Dolly Parton

It comes after Parton announced in September that she had to postpone her upcoming Las Vegas residency over “health challenges”.

Dolly Parton performs with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in 2023. Pic: Reuters
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Dolly Parton performs with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in 2023. Pic: Reuters

“As many of you know, I have been dealing with some health challenges, and my doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures,” the singer said at the time.

“As I joked with them, it must be time for my 100,000-mile check-up, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon!”

Read more from Sky News:
Author Dame Jilly Cooper dies after fall
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Parton said she was postponing the shows because she is “not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see. You pay good money to see me perform, and I want to be at my best for you”.

The country star was set to perform six shows at Caesars Palace in December, but her performance dates have been moved to September 2026.

“Don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet,” Parton said as she announced the postponement of her shows. “But I believe he is telling me to slow down right now so I can be ready for more big adventures with all of you.”

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Robin Williams’s daughter begs people to stop sending her AI videos of her father

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Robin Williams's daughter begs people to stop sending her AI videos of her father

The daughter of late actor Robin Williams has begged people to stop sending her AI-generated “slop” of her father.

“Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” actor and director Zelda Williams wrote on Instagram on Monday.

“To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that’s enough’, just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening.”

Zelda Williams arrives in 2024. File pic: AP
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Zelda Williams arrives in 2024. File pic: AP

She described the videos as “disgusting, over-processed hotdogs” made from the lives of human beings.

“You’re […] shoving them down someone else’s throat hoping they’ll give you a little thumbs up and like it. Gross,” she wrote.

It’s not the first time Williams has written about the impact of people sending her content about her father on social media.

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Hunger strikers want end to ‘superhuman’ AI

In 2020, on the anniversary of her father’s death, Williams posted on Instagram saying:

More on Artificial Intelligence

“While I am constantly touched by all of your boundless continued love for him, some days it can feel a bit like being seen as a roadside memorial – a place, not a person – where people drive past and leave their sentiments to then go about their days comforted their love for him was witnessed.”

“But sometimes, that leaves me emotionally buried under a pile of others’ memories instead of my own.”

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The death of Robin Williams in 2014, an actor and comedian known for his quick wit and wisdom, triggered a global outpouring of grief and tributes to the star still frequently surface on social media to this day.

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‘I’ve been turned into an AI announcer’

In 2023, Zelda appealed for the end of AI-generated content, saying in a widely-reported post on Instagram:

“I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like Dad. This isn’t theoretical, it is very very real.”⁠

“I’ve already heard AI used to get his ‘voice’ to say whatever people want and while I find it personally disturbing, the ramifications go far beyond my own feelings.”

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Author Dame Jilly Cooper has died

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Author Dame Jilly Cooper has died

Author Dame Jilly Cooper has died, her publisher has said.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dame Jilly Cooper, DBE who died on Sunday morning, after a fall, at the age of 88,” a statement said.

The Queen paid tribute to Dame Jilly, calling her a “legend” who was a “wonderfully witty and compassionate friend”.

The best-selling author was renowned for her raunchy, so-called “bonkbuster” novels, which portrayed the scandals and sex lives of wealthy country social circles, including Rivals, Riders and Polo.

She was praised for her blend of risqué storylines and critique of Britain’s class system, personified by showjumping lothario Rupert Campbell-Black.

Her children Felix and Emily said: “Mum was the shining light in all of our lives. Her love for all of her family and friends knew no bounds.

“Her unexpected death has come as a complete shock.

“We are so proud of everything she achieved in her life and can’t begin to imagine life without her infectious smile and laughter all around us.”

Jilly Cooper met Queen Camilla during a reception at Clarence House in March this year. Pic: PA
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Jilly Cooper met Queen Camilla during a reception at Clarence House in March this year. Pic: PA

Jilly Cooper and daughter Emily. Pic: PA
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Jilly Cooper and daughter Emily. Pic: PA

Dame Jilly was propelled to commercial success in the 1980s, and sold 11 million copies of her books during her more than fifty-year career.

Last year, Rivals was adapted into a successful TV series, which she worked on as an executive producer.

Jilly Cooper found fame in the 1980s. Pic: Nikki English/ANL/Shutterstock
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Jilly Cooper found fame in the 1980s. Pic: Nikki English/ANL/Shutterstock

Tributes to author who created ‘a whole new genre’

Dame Jilly was a long-standing friend of the Queen.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, she said: “I was so saddened to learn of Dame Jilly’s death last night.

“Very few writers get to be a legend in their own lifetime but Jilly was one, creating a whole new genre of literature and making it her own through a career that spanned over five decades.

“In person she was a wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many – and it was a particular pleasure to see her just a few weeks ago at my Queen’s Reading Room Festival where she was, as ever, a star of the show.

“I join my husband the King in sending our thoughts and sympathies to all her family.

“And may her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.”

The author’s many fans included former prime minister Rishi Sunak, who said the books offered “escapism”.

Jilly Cooper with cast members from Rivals in 2024. Pic: Hogan Media/Shutterstock
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Jilly Cooper with cast members from Rivals in 2024. Pic: Hogan Media/Shutterstock

‘Dame Jilly defined culture’

Her agent Felicity Blunt said: “The privilege of my career has been working with a woman who has defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago.”

She added: “You wouldn’t expect books categorised as bonkbusters to have so emphatically stood the test of time, but Jilly wrote with acuity and insight about all things – class, sex, marriage, rivalry, grief and fertility.”

The executive producers of the Disney+ adaptation, Rivals, said they are “broken-hearted” and “her legacy will endure”.

Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alex Lamb added: “Jilly was and always will be one of the world’s greatest storytellers, and it has been the most incredible honour to have been able to work with her to adapt her incredible novels for television.”

As tributes rolled in on Monday, TV presenter Kirsty Allsopp wrote on X: “I know 88 is a good age, but this is very sad news.

“A British institution, funny, enthusiastic and self-deprecating, we don’t see enough of it these days.”

Her publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said: “Jilly may have worn her influence lightly, but she was a true trailblazer.

“As a journalist she went where others feared to tread, and as a novelist she did likewise.

“With a winning combination of glorious storytelling, wicked social commentary and deft, lacerating characterisation, she dissected the behaviour, bad mostly, of the English upper middle classes with the sharpest of scalpels.”

Author Jilly Cooper with two stars of a mini TV series based on her book Riders. Pic: PA
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Author Jilly Cooper with two stars of a mini TV series based on her book Riders. Pic: PA

Pic: PA
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Pic: PA

The ‘unholy terror’

Born in Essex in 1937, Jilly Cooper came from a Yorkshire family known for newspaper publishing and politics.

Her writing career began in 1956 as a junior reporter on the Middlesex Independent, covering everything from parties to football.

Aidan Turner played the character Declan O'Hara in Rivals. Pic: PA
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Aidan Turner played the character Declan O’Hara in Rivals. Pic: PA

She had said she was known as the “unholy terror” at school, and was sacked from 22 jobs before finding her way into book publishing.

Dame Jilly started writing stories for women’s magazines in 1968, and found her break in 1969 when The Sunday Times published a story on being an ”undomesticated” homemaker. It gave rise to a column that lasted over 13 years.

In 2019 she won the inaugural Comedy Women in Print lifetime achievement award, and in 2024 was made a dame for her services to literature and charity.

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