Denver’s low-snow winter won’t delay Waymo’s opening of robotaxi service to riders later this year, company officials said this week, because their AI machine-learning system draws data from other cities that had heavier snowfall.

Colorado authorities said the state will regulate the service once Waymo begins carrying passengers.

Waymo released videos from dashboard cameras showing the self-driving robotaxis navigating icy and snow-packed roads in Denver; Detroit; New York; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; and Houston, along with computer graphics highlighting their avoidance of other vehicles and pedestrians. In Denver, a dozen Waymo vehicles – white Jaguars and blue Zeekrs topped with rotating black cameras and radar – have been operating since September with human handlers riding along to develop their systems’ ability to adapt to winter road conditions. The testing was done in part to address challenges posed by snowstorms that could confuse the sensors, causing disruptions.

Denver had enough snow to aid in “learning” the streets and the city’s responses to snow, Waymo spokeswoman Sandy Karp said.

“We’re also driving in cities such as Washington, D.C.; New York; Detroit and Minneapolis that received a lot of snow. The ‘Waymo Driver’ benefits from all the ‘learning’ across the country,” Karp said, referring to the computer system. “We’re excited to be opening our doors to riders starting later this year.”

No date was given.

An AI-powered computer system directly operates Waymo vehicles’ steering, acceleration, and braking. Company officials say the vehicles are safer than vehicles driven by humans, who are prone to road rage, intoxication, and distraction. The system evolves on its own as the sensors extract more information.

No government agency in Colorado has provided independent regulatory oversight. Colorado lawmakers in 2017 gave tech companies the green light to deploy autonomous vehicles, as long as they obey traffic rules. State lawmakers also blocked local governments from banning the vehicles.

But PUC spokeswoman Megan Castle confirmed that “once Waymo begins carrying passengers, they will be subject to Public Utilities Commission oversight.” That means Waymo will be required to file reports to the PUC detailing any crashes involving bodily injury and more than $5,000 in property damage within 30 days, Castle said. The PUC would license Waymo and require safety measures and insurance, she said.

In Denver, city transportation officials said they’re coordinating with Waymo as the company gets ready to accept passengers.

“Waymo is responsible for the safe operation of its vehicles in all weather conditions,” city spokeswoman Nancy Kuhn said. “Ultimately, they will need to determine if they have done the winter testing they need to in Denver, given we’ve not had much snow.”

Consumer Reports safety advocates had assessed Colorado’s regulatory approach as “relatively permissive,” said Cooper Lohr, senior policy analyst for that team. “It may streamline deployment, and for autonomous vehicle companies, it is music to their ears. But it does not provide the same level of enforcement authority as in California,” Lohr said.

“At a minimum, when a vehicle is assuming the role of the driver, there should be clear regulatory authority to require safety reporting, collecting performance data, and the ability to impose some sort of corrective action,” he said.

Over the weekend in Austin, Texas, a Waymo vehicle temporarily blocked an emergency vehicle responding to victims of a shooting, according to local news reports. A police officer managed to move the Waymo, but Lohr cited the incident as an example of what could go wrong. “Seconds can mean life and death in these scenarios. Even if it is technically a ‘glitch,’ the impact of that ‘glitch’ could be profound.”