The first thing Waymo tried building (way back when, circa 2010 or so) was highway based driver assist in the style of Autopilot. They did a ton of testing with it and didn’t like how quickly their testers stopped paying attention despite a ton of instruction not to. I’ve seen clips from these tests.
It’s also possible they shifted direction because the long term vision of robotaxis is much more lucrative.
It’s also possible they shifted direction because the long term vision of robotaxis is much more lucrative.