LATE LAST MONTH, dozens of automotive and tech journalists across the country got the digital equivalent of a golden ticket in their inbox: an invitation from Waymo to go “Behind Castle Walls.” This week, Alex joined that lucky cohort on an oh-so-rare tour of the abandoned Air Force base where engineers at Waymo (formerly known as Google’s self-driving car project) subject their robocars to crafty tests, all in the name of safer driving. Just like Charlie Bucket’s exploration of the chocolate factory, this tour was revealing not just for what he saw—but in what Willy Wonka Waymo wouldn’t tell him.
