Russia’s Yandex Joins the Self-Driving Car Million-Mile Club
An advance in the battle for a slice of $2 trillion robotaxi market
Driverless Toyota Prius hybrid cars, operated by Yandex.Taxi, part of Yandex.NV, take part in a self-driving taxi trial on a test track near Moscow.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergYandex NV, Russia’s largest internet firm, said its self-driving cars have passed 1 million miles in fully autonomous driving since it started testing the technology in December 2017, joining an elite group in the emerging robotaxi industry.
The milestone matters for Yandex’s quest to compete with the likes of Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo for a share of the market, which UBS Group AG says could exceed $2 trillion by 2030. Getting to 1 million indicates the company is on its way to verifying its technology — showing that it’s reliable and safe. That’s key for getting regulators to accept cars in the streets with no person at the wheel.