The driverless-taxi revolution just hit warp-speed, with Waymo is now rolling fully autonomous rides on freeways across San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. But behind the milestone lurks a sharp-edged tension: labor groups and city regulators are digging in their heels, warning that the cost of progress may include lost jobs, uneven oversight, and a future shaped by tech oligarchs rather than consumers.

As unions and city regulators rush to slow or restrict autonomous fleets, the clash between innovation and entrenched power is erupting in real time. Senior Young Voices Contributor Ed Tarnowski offers his latest Reason article, about whether these crackdowns are truly about public safety or about protecting legacy interests from a future that’s already here. He joins Harry Birzer on WRFH to discuss.