Waymo can keep testing robotaxis in NYC until end of 2025 (techcrunch.com)

New York City regulators have extended Waymo’s autonomous-vehicle testing permit through the end of 2025, allowing the company to continue operating up to eight Jaguar I‑Pace robotaxis in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn with human safety operators behind the wheel. The extension keeps the original terms: operators are exempt from NYC’s one-hand-on-the-wheel rule, but Waymo still cannot carry passengers or run a commercial service without separate Taxi and Limousine Commission licenses. Waymo didn’t say whether it’s seeking those city permits; the company has been trying to operate in NYC since 2021. The move is significant because it represents incremental regulatory approval for testing in one of the world’s most complex urban driving environments — a key technical proving ground for perception, prediction, and motion-planning systems. For the AI/ML community, continued on-street data and operational experience in dense, chaotic traffic will accelerate robustness improvements, but the human-driver requirement and lack of a legal pathway for driverless deployment mean full autonomy remains gated by policy as much as technology. Legislation to enable driverless robotaxis has been proposed but not passed, so Waymo’s progress highlights both technological readiness gains and the regulatory hurdles that will determine when truly driverless services can scale in major cities.