That has established Waymo as the early frontrunner in driverless technology while others are racing to catch up. Both Amazon and Tesla are gearing up to launch their own services in different U.S. cities while another ride-hailing service, Lyft, has announced plans to add robotaxis as an option in Atlanta and Dallas.

Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo said on Tuesday it aims to launch its fully autonomous ride-hailing service in the U.S. capital city next year. Waymo began moving vehicles to Washington, D.C., in January and will bring more to the city in the coming weeks as it works to start paid commercial services as soon as next year.