Waymo expands to Michigan to test self-driving cars in the snow

Waymo is heading east for the winter to embrace the slick, snowy roads of the Midwest.

The Google self-driving spinoff announced it will expand its autonomous testing to Michigan in order to train its platform in cold weather conditions, calling the state its "winter wonderland." The company's CEO John Krafcik says it has piloted its cars in cold weather since 2012, but expanding the project to public roads in Michigan will give it more experience with the unpredictable road conditions that come with snowy weather.

Waymo will launch the program in the Greater Detroit area, starting in Novi, Michigan. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's tracked the project's progress on self-driving cars since its days with Google X before Waymo's official formation — Novi is home to a self-driving development center that Google opened last May. Read more...