Robotaxis dominated headlines and social media in 2025, with Alphabet-backed Waymo achieving significant milestones while Tesla’s promises continued to generate buzz without delivering fully autonomous rides. Waymo had a banner year, achieving full autonomy in at least 10 cities and providing more than 14 million trips to passengers. The company expanded public service to Austin and Atlanta, solidifying its position as the leading operational robotaxi service in the United States.
Cultural penetration became a key strategy for robotaxis in 2025. Pop star Sabrina Carpenter referenced self-driving cars in her music, while Waymo’s Jaguar vehicles appeared in multiple music videos, including collaborations with pseudo-K-pop group Katseye. These partnerships were deliberate marketing efforts to familiarize consumers with autonomous vehicle technology in cities where the service isn’t yet available. Arturo Siguenza, Waymo’s brand and creative strategy manager, explained the strategy aims to “uplift the Waymo story in places where we can engage and reach new audiences.”
Online mentions of “robotaxi” peaked in late June with over 204,000 mentions, coinciding with Tesla’s Robotaxi launch announcement, according to Hootsuite data tracking more than 30 social networks and 150 million websites. However, Tesla has yet to provide a single fully autonomous ride to the public. Only in December did the company demonstrate an employee in a Tesla driving without a monitor behind the wheel. Despite the lack of operational service, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s ambitious timelines—promising 1,000 robotaxis in months and a million by end of 2026—continue driving conversation through his 230 million X followers.
Viral moments weren’t always positive. Waymo accumulated 2.1 million mentions over 13 months, with sentiment analysis showing 32.1% negative versus 24.7% positive. The top TikTok video featuring Waymo garnered 3.4 million likes, showing an apparent near-collision. Waymo vehicles were also set on fire during anti-ICE protests in June, forcing service suspension. In December, a San Francisco blackout caused Waymo robotaxis to stall at intersections, creating another viral moment and service pause.
Public trust remains a significant challenge. The Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report surveyed 8,000 US consumers, finding 40% would “never consider riding in a robotaxi.” While robotaxis achieved cultural prominence in 2025, the trust gap between awareness and adoption persists heading into 2026.
Key Quotes
People are seeing our cars on the road, but not everyone gets to be exposed to that as we’re thinking about cities that we’re not in yet. And so our strategy this year is really to uplift the Waymo story in places where we can engage and reach new audiences and show them the magic that people are experiencing with Waymo and the cities that we’re serving.
Arturo Siguenza, Waymo’s brand and creative strategy manager, explained the company’s deliberate cultural marketing strategy through music video collaborations and celebrity partnerships. This reveals how autonomous vehicle companies are investing in brand awareness to prepare markets before operational launch.
POV: You decide to take your first Waymo ride and immediately almost die.
This caption from the top TikTok video about Waymo (3.4 million likes) demonstrates how negative viral moments can significantly impact public perception of autonomous vehicles. The video showed an apparent near-collision, illustrating how robotaxi mistakes become amplified on social media and contribute to the trust gap.
I had a really great time / I really loved the conversation / And that your car self drives.
Pop star Sabrina Carpenter included this reference to autonomous vehicles in her music, showing how robotaxis have penetrated mainstream culture and Gen Z consciousness. This cultural moment reflects the growing normalization of self-driving technology in everyday conversation and entertainment.
Our Take
The 2025 robotaxi story perfectly encapsulates the AI industry’s broader challenge: technical capability racing ahead of public trust. Waymo’s 14 million trips prove autonomous driving AI works at scale, yet 40% of consumers remain unwilling to try it. This mirrors patterns across AI adoption—ChatGPT achieved massive awareness but faces trust concerns about accuracy and bias. Tesla’s strategy of promise-driven hype versus Waymo’s operational delivery represents two divergent approaches to AI commercialization. Musk’s timeline announcements generate buzz and investment interest despite zero public rides, while Waymo quietly builds trust through actual service. The viral nature of robotaxi failures—stalled intersections, near-collisions—shows how AI mistakes are amplified and remembered more than successes. For 2026, the autonomous vehicle industry must shift from cultural marketing to safety transparency and consistent performance to close the trust gap. The technology is ready; human psychology isn’t.
Why This Matters
This story reveals the critical disconnect between robotaxi hype and public acceptance as autonomous vehicle technology moves from experimental to mainstream. Waymo’s operational success—14 million trips across 10 cities—demonstrates that fully autonomous driving is technically achievable and commercially viable, marking a significant milestone for AI-powered transportation. However, the 40% of consumers unwilling to ever ride in a robotaxi highlights the trust deficit that could slow widespread adoption despite technological readiness.
The contrast between Waymo’s actual service and Tesla’s promises-without-delivery illustrates how marketing and celebrity influence can dominate public perception over operational reality. This has broader implications for AI adoption across industries: cultural familiarity doesn’t equal trust, and viral moments—especially negative ones—can significantly impact sentiment. For the autonomous vehicle industry, 2025 proved that achieving technical autonomy is only half the battle; winning public confidence requires consistent safety performance, transparent communication during failures, and sustained positive exposure. As robotaxis expand to more cities in 2026, addressing the trust gap will be as important as technological advancement for achieving mass-market success.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/robotaxis-viral-in-2025-where-to-ride-waymo-tesla-2026-2025-12