Tesla’s Grok Playbook Meets Its Match? GOOGL's Waymo Arms Ojai Robotaxis With Gemini AI

While the Waymo Driver handles autonomous navigation, Gemini empowers riders with voice or touch controls for cabin settings, journey details, local recommendations, and general knowledge, the company said.

• The rivalry between Tesla and Waymo remains intense.
• While Tesla is only building its own purpose-built robotaxi with no wheels or pedals called the Cybercab, Waymo’s Ojai robotaxis are already on public roads.
• In Alphabet’s earnings call earlier this month, CEO Sundar Pichai sidestepped questions on a possible spinout for Waymo. 

Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL) Waymo on Wednesday upgraded its purpose-built Ojai robotaxi with Google’s Gemini AI cabin assistant, in a move reminiscent of rival Tesla incorporating the Grok chatbot into its own vehicles.

While the Waymo Driver autonomous driving software handles autonomous navigation, Gemini empowers riders with voice or touch controls for cabin settings, journey details, local recommendations and general knowledge, the company said. 

Passengers can request “turn the A/C to 65,” ask “where’s the best coffee nearby?” or inquire about landmarks. The assistant remains inactive until engaged, operates independently of driving systems with no access to real-time vehicle data, and prioritizes privacy, Waymo said. The rollout is currently in beta phase.

Tesla Playbook?

The move parallels Tesla’s integration of Grok into its vehicles. Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update expanded Grok’s capabilities to handle voice commands for climate control, phone calls, music, glovebox access, and vehicle queries—functioning as a helpful cabin companion separate from Full Self-Driving software, which enables autonomous or assisted driving.

The rivalry between Tesla and Waymo remains intense. Waymo now offers fully driverless rides in 10 U.S. cities, operating around 3,000 vehicles and targeting one million weekly paid rides by year-end after reaching hundreds of thousands weekly earlier this year. 

Tesla’s unsupervised robotaxi service, primarily using Model Ys, remains more limited in scale and cities such as Austin, with slower expansion than earlier projections. 

Elon Musk has repeatedly downplayed the threat, claiming late last year that Waymo “never really had a chance against Tesla,” while earlier acknowledging its role in regulatory groundwork. 

While Tesla is only building its own purpose-built robotaxi with no wheels or pedals called the Cybercab, Waymo’s Ojai robotaxis are already on public roads. However, unlike the Cybercab, Ojai has a removable steering wheel and pedals. In the company’s quarterly earnings call earlier this month, CEO Sundar Pichai said that Ojai will become open to more riders in the coming months. He also sidestepped questions on a possible spinout for Waymo, saying instead that Alphabet is focused on “executing and scaling up Waymo.”

How Did GOOGL Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around GOOGL stayed within the ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume stayed at ‘high’ levels. 

GOOGL stock has gained 8% year to date, while TSLA stock fell 34%. 

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