Waymo's autonomous vehicles have become part of the everyday landscape in a growing number of US cities, serving as safe transport options, tourist attractions, and symbols of a not-so-distant future.

For the first time, I took a ride in a driverless car. Is it safe? How does it work? And when will something this futuristic make its way to India? These were just some of the questions that raced through my mind.

The two approaches could not be more different, in ways that suggest different possible futures for what autonomous vehicles mean for society. That kind of progress hasn’t come cheap. Google parent company Alphabet has sunk billions into the technology,