Carmack tries Waymo and Zoox: sparse pickup points are the biggest pain point
ID_AA_Carmack · x · 2026-10-10
John Carmack tried Waymo and Zoox robotaxis in Las Vegas for the first time (he uses Tesla FSD daily).
Key takeaways:
- Sparse pickup/dropoff points are the biggest issue: only a few fixed locations with a couple of minutes to reach them; he suggests aerial map views or pannable 360° photos to make points obvious
- Zoox felt more charming, with nice touches, though the first flawless ride still ended with a lengthy walk; the second had an incident where another Zoox repeatedly reversed toward theirs at a light, eventually edging dangerously close to a fast-moving semi
- Waymo's steering felt indecisive, like Teslas a couple of years ago — though Vegas was early access
Both get the job done; Cybercab still untested.
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