Waymo is reportedly planning to use data captured from the interior cameras of its self-driving taxis, including footage linked directly to riders’ identities, to train generative AI models. This development was discovered in a yet-unpublished version of the company’s privacy policy obtained by researcher Jane Manchun Wong.
According to the draft privacy guidelines, Waymo may also leverage this collected data to deliver personalized advertisements, raising concern among privacy advocates regarding how passenger behavior in autonomous vehicles might be repurposed for marketing purposes and utilized in artificial intelligence training.
Specifically, the policy indicates Waymo reserves the right to share user data in order to improve its service offerings and personalize products, ads, and promotions based on rider interests. Passengers will have certain opt-out choices, allowing them to restrict the sharing of information with third parties unless deemed essential for Waymo’s operations.
Furthermore, the unpublished policy explicitly provides riders the ability to opt out of Waymo’s use of their personal information, including footage from inside the vehicle connected to their identity, for training generative AI technologies.
Still unanswered are questions regarding the nature of the interior camera data Waymo intends to use—whether this includes facial expressions, gestures, or other indicators of passenger behavior. Additionally, it’s unclear if Waymo’s plans involve solely internal AI model development or whether it could also share certain data within the Alphabet portfolio, potentially benefiting AI initiatives at Google or DeepMind.
Waymo currently leads the autonomous vehicle industry in America, earning substantial commercial revenue from robotaxi rides. With more than 200,000 paid rides each week in various cities including Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Austin—as reported in February—Waymo continues expanding steadily, with launches planned for Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C. within the next two years.
Despite its growth in scaled operations, Waymo remains financially unprofitable for parent company Alphabet, reflecting heavy investments toward fleet expansion, specialized hardware, vehicle maintenance, technological innovation, and charging infrastructure. Alphabet invested an additional $5 billion into Waymo last year, accompanied by another $5.6 billion raised from external investors, lifting Waymo’s valuation above $45 billion.
As Alphabet does not publicly break down Waymo’s specific earnings, the company’s ongoing financial losses are recorded collectively within Alphabet’s “Other Bets” segment, which reported an operating loss of $1.2 billion in 2024. Seeking new revenue streams like in-vehicle advertising or monetizing interior data for generative AI training could potentially offset some of these sustaining operational costs and lead Waymo toward eventual profitability.
