What was the name of Alphabet’s autonomous-vehicle project before it became the company Waymo?

Alphabet’s autonomous-vehicle project was called the Google Self-Driving Car Project before becoming Waymo.

Google began its self-driving car project in 2009. The work grew out of research involving modified vehicles, sensors, mapping, and software designed to interpret roads and traffic without a human driver controlling the car.

In December 2016, Alphabet spun the project out as a separate company named Waymo. The new name reflected a broader focus on mobility and transportation rather than only the original Google research program.

Waymo is sometimes confused with Project Wing, another Alphabet project focused on drone delivery. It is also distinct from Google Maps, whose mapping data supports navigation but does not itself operate autonomous vehicles.