2025: The Defining Year for Autonomous Vehicle Adoption

Editor’s note: “2025: The Defining Year for Autonomous Vehicle Adoption” was previously published in February 2025 with the title, “Autonomous Vehicles: Why 2025 Will Usher in the Self-Driving Car.” It has since been updated to include the most relevant information available.

The future isn’t coming—it’s already here. 

Big Tech firms, for example, are spending billions of dollars to develop new AI applications. But thus far, many of those projects are still in development. Therefore, outside of bots like ChatGPT, folks like you and me have largely yet to witness the change that is AI. 

But one technological transformation happening right now is already quite tangible: autonomous vehicles (AVs), or self-driving cars.

Now, I know many folks might be skeptical of 2025 truly being the year this ground-breaking technology finally goes mainstream. After all, self-driving cars have spent years stuck in a cycle of hype, delays, and skepticism. Many believed they were always “five years away” from reality. But in 2025, that changes.

Over the past year, companies at the heart of this industry have made consistent and stunning progress. And now that Donald Trump is back in the White House for a second term, the regulatory landscape is beginning to shift in a highly favorable direction.

That disruption isn’t a distant dream. It’s happening now.

Autonomous vehicles are on track to turn the global transportation services market – estimated to be worth more than $7 trillion – on its head; and the profit potential in this space is absolutely massive.

The companies leading this revolution are making history, and investors who position themselves early stand to reap massive rewards.

That’s why I just put together a brand-new, research-driven presentation breaking down the biggest opportunities in the self-driving car space—and how you can profit. (Click here to check out that video.)

The AV Experience

Let me share a personal experience that illustrates why I’m so confident about the AV Revolution unfolding right now. Rather than making predictions, I’ll show you exactly what these vehicles can already do.

Recently, I was flying back from a work trip into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. It was late. My wife and kids were asleep. So, I fetched a ride from a ride-hailing app. The car arrived. It took me to my home in the suburbs. Dropped me off. 

It was a typical ride-hailing experience. 

Except for one critical detail… 

There was no driver. 

The car that picked me up from the airport, drove me through Phoenix, and dropped me off at my house had no driver. 

It was a fully autonomous vehicle operated by Waymo, the self-driving unit at Alphabet Inc. (GOOG).

It’s been working on developing autonomous vehicle technology for over a decade now. For the past few years, it’s been quietly testing its technology through autonomous ride-hailing in Phoenix and a few other American cities. Folks in those areas can hail an autonomous Waymo and have it drive them from place to place. I bet many of you live nearby one of them and can try this yourself. 

That’s what I did for my trip from Phoenix Sky Harbor International to my house. (And in fact, I filmed that very ride so you can check out the experience for yourself.)

Waymo: Steering Us Into a Driverless Future

Waymo is currently delivering more than 150,000 autonomous rides per week in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. 

That’s a lot of rides! 

And they’re growing quickly. Just a few months ago, Waymo was only completing about 50,000 rides per week – meaning it tripled its ride volume in just a few months. 

We think that number will triple in the next few months, too. 

But we don’t find this technology so compelling based on popularity alone.

Did you know that Waymo’s self-driving cars are also proving far safer than their human-driven counterparts? The company’s autonomous vehicles have driven over 22 million miles. And in those 22 million miles, they have been involved in 84% fewer crashes with an airbag deployment, 73% fewer injury-causing crashes, and 48% fewer police-reported crashes compared to human drivers.

The Waymos have arrived, and they’re exceptionally safe.

Of course, the skeptics in the room may be saying that the firm is only operational in three cities. That’s far from being a “national” service.

But Waymo has plans to expand to 10 new metros in 2025, including Las Vegas, San Diego, Atlanta, Austin, and Miami. That means that by the end of the year, the company will be operational in 13 cities. 

There are only 17 cities in the U.S. with 750,000-plus people. And by the time 2026 comes around, Waymo will be delivering rides in 75% of them. 

It seems this is the year that Waymo goes national.