40 companies hold permits to test autonomous driving in California, and after Cruise's demise Waymo is the only company trying to make an actual go of a digital taxi service in the US.

Two parts, judged as of 1 January 2025. (1) The number of companies holding California DMV autonomous-vehicle testing permits (with a safety driver) was about 40; a count of roughly 35–45 counts as right. (2) After Cruise wound down its robotaxi business (announced December 2024), Waymo was the only company in the US running, or actually trying to run, a public commercial driverless taxi service. True if both hold. Mostly true if (2) holds and the permit count is somewhat outside 35–45 (roughly 30–50). Mixed if one part clearly fails: for example, other US companies were then running or actively launching public driverless ride-hailing services (such as Zoox opening to the public, or Tesla, May Mobility or others offering paid driverless rides), or the permit count was far from 40. Mostly false if both parts are wrong but rest on something true (for example, Waymo was clearly the largest but not the only one). False if both parts are clearly wrong.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Autonomous vehicle testing in California dropped 50%. Here's why. | TechCrunch TechCrunch · 31 January 2025

   “Today, just 31 companies hold permits for testing with a safety driver — and of those, just 11 actually conducted public road testing in 2024.”

2. E2 Autonomous vehicle testing in California dropped 50%. Here's why. | TechCrunch TechCrunch · 31 January 2025

   “Six companies, including AutoX, Nuro, WeRide, Waymo, Apollo Autonomous Driving, and Zoox are approved for driverless testing. Only Mercedes-Benz (which has an advanced driver assistance system that allows hands-free, eyes-off driving on some highways), Nuro, and Waymo have permits that allow commercial operations.”

3. E3 Autonomous vehicle testing in California dropped 50%. Here's why. | TechCrunch TechCrunch · 31 January 2025

   “The upshot is a consolidated industry that lacks competition on the commercial front.”

The evidence puts the California safety-driver permit count at 31 [E1] and shows that Waymo, Nuro and Mercedes-Benz held California commercial permits [E2]. It does not show which companies were running or trying to run a public driverless taxi service in the US, so part (2) of the criteria is not settled [E3].