<P> Waymo is an autonomous car development company spun out of Google 's parent company , Alphabet Inc. , in December 2016 . It then took over the self - driving car project which Google had begun in 2009 . Alphabet describes Waymo as `` a self - driving tech company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around '' . The new company , which will be headed by long - time automotive executive John Krafcik , is working towards making self - driving cars available to the public soon . From the company 's FAQ : </P>
<P> Waymo is an autonomous car development company spun out of Google 's parent company , Alphabet Inc. , in December 2016 . It then took over the self - driving car project which Google had begun in 2009 . Alphabet describes Waymo as `` a self - driving tech company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around '' . The new company , which will be headed by long - time automotive executive John Krafcik , is working towards making self - driving cars available to the public soon . From the company 's FAQ : </P>
when did google start working on driverless cars
when did google start working on driverless cars
2009
2009