Waymo Driverless Cars Eye Cupertino Launch

Waymo’s push toward offering driverless rides in Cupertino is moving through California’s two-step approval process, with state records showing the company already has DMV authority for broader deployment territory and is now waiting on a related CPUC review. The filings do not list a public launch date for Cupertino. They do show that Cupertino sits in the kind of Bay Area expansion zone Waymo has been steadily adding over the past two years. The result is that Cupertino appears closer to eligibility for Waymo service than it was a year ago, even though the company has not said when riders there could open the app and book a trip. ### Which approvals does Waymo need before it can pick up riders in Cupertino? California splits autonomous-vehicle oversight between the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission. The DMV decides whether an autonomous vehicle manufacturer can test and deploy vehicles on public roads, while the CPUC separately regulates passenger service for companies carrying members of the public. (cpuc.ca.gov) Waymo already holds both kinds of authority in California, but expansion into new passenger-service areas still requires updates. CPUC records show Waymo has a Phase I driverless deployment permit, and the commission’s permits page lists Waymo as holding driverless deployment authority with Bay Area and Los Angeles maps tied to its operational design domain. (cpuc.ca.gov) ### What changed in the latest Cupertino-related expansion push? January 28, 2026, is the key date in the newest CPUC filing. On that date, Waymo submitted Advice Letter 0004 seeking approval of an updated Passenger Safety Plan tied to “expanded DMV-approved territory for deployment operations” and the addition of its Ojai vehicle platform, according to the filing summary. (cpuc.ca.gov) February 24, 2026, is the date on Waymo’s public reply in that proceeding. In that filing, Waymo said the update reflects an expanded operational design domain approved by the DMV on November 21, 2025, adding “additional portions of Northern and Southern California.” Waymo also said 29 support letters from 111 organizations had been submitted to the CPUC as of that reply. (cpuc.ca.gov) ### Does that mean Cupertino is definitely included? Cupertino is not named in the excerpts available from the CPUC summary pages, so the public records reviewed here do not provide a clean one-line statement saying “Cupertino is approved.” What the records do show is that Waymo’s DMV deployment territory was expanded within the Bay Area Peninsula in March 2025, and then expanded again on November 21, 2025 to additional portions of Northern and Southern California. (cpuc.ca.gov) March 17, 2025, is the DMV approval date cited in Waymo’s 2025 Bay Area Peninsula operational-design-domain statement. That document says Waymo’s intended deployment domain includes all roadway types, all speed limits, all times of day and night, and rain and fog conditions, with the exception of widespread snow or ice accumulation. (dmv.ca.gov) ### How fast has the CPUC been moving on earlier Waymo expansions? March 1, 2024, is when CPUC staff approved Waymo’s Advice Letter 0002 for an earlier expansion into Los Angeles and additional parts of the San Francisco Peninsula. That approval followed a January 19, 2024 filing. (webproda.cpuc.ca.gov) May 19, 2025, is when CPUC staff approved Waymo’s Advice Letter 0003 for additional portions of the Bay Area Peninsula, including San Jose. That filing had been submitted on March 26, 2025, and the disposition letter said no protests were filed and 23 timely supportive responses were received. (cpuc.ca.gov) ### So when could Cupertino service actually start? May 15, 2026, is the current point in the paper trail, and the CPUC status page reviewed here still lists Advice Letter 0004 as the active 2026 filing without a posted disposition in the excerpt available. That means the public record supports this narrower conclusion: Waymo has already cleared the DMV step for broader territory and is pursuing the related CPUC approval needed to extend passenger service into newly approved areas. (cpuc.ca.gov) The next concrete milestone will be a CPUC disposition letter or status update for Advice Letter 0004. The commission’s advice-letter status page is the public place where that action appears, just as it did for Waymo’s March 2024 and May 2025 approvals. (cpuc.ca.gov)