While driverless Waymo vehicles burned in downtown LA amid protests over recent ICE raids, many observers overlooked a striking irony: the company’s roots — and its founder — are themselves the product of immigration.
Sebastian Thrun, a pioneer in robotics and AI, immigrated to the United States from Germany in the 1990s.
Since then, he’s become one of Silicon Valley’s most influential technologists, helping launch Google X, co-founding online learning unicorn Udacity, and leading early development of autonomous vehicles at what is now Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car subsidiary.
“I am a big immigration fan,” Thrun said in an interview. “It’s important for us to keep smart people immigrating to Silicon Valley and the U.S. If we don’t do this — and stop focusing on top-notch education — then others will take in, like China.”
Thrun publicly admitted that Udacity — a billion-dollar startup with more than 400 employees — simply wouldn’t exist without immigrant talent.
“I firmly believe that the diversity of our staff is key to our success.”
In L.A., however, protesters have voiced fears that surveillance technologies in autonomous vehicles could aid immigration enforcement.
Those concerns intensified after video and sensor footage from Waymo cars became part of a broader debate over tech’s ties to law enforcement.
Waymo said it generally resists broad data requests, and declined to comment on specific cases.
Fires during protests triggered thermal runaway reactions in Waymo’s lithium-ion battery packs, pushing internal temperatures beyond 1,000°C. The cars burned rapidly, releasing toxic hydrogen fluoride and prompting the company to temporarily pause operations in parts of LA.
But the incidents haven’t slowed Waymo’s momentum. This week, the company announced it is expanding service by another 80 square miles across Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, and the Bay Area.
Waymo now operates over 250 square miles in California, with paid ride-hailing services in Phoenix, San Francisco, LA, and Austin.
The company has applied for a permit to begin testing in Manhattan with a “trained specialist” behind the wheel — a potential step toward launching in New York City.
As Waymo cars return to the streets, their presence will likely remain both a symbol of protest and a flashpoint in ongoing debates about tech, privacy, and immigration.
