What’s up with the new hipster Waymos in Phoenix?

It’s easy to spot the signature sleek white design of a self-driving Waymo on the streets of Phoenix. The whirring cameras and sensors, including the black hat-like device on top that displays a rider’s initials, are hard to miss.

Now, they’ll be even easier to spot, and a little less antiseptic.

Recently, Valley residents have spotted some of the ever-present robot cars emblazoned with new artsy designs.

A black and white cartoon cat reads a book on the passenger side of one Waymo car, while a dog lazily scrolling on a smartphone on the driver's side. One car features a design by Los Angeles-based artist Ashley Dreyfus, whose signature neon-colored birds, dogs, turtles, trees and mushrooms cover the driver’s side doors. Yet another tableau features a runner, a dog, a photographer and a skateboarder all frolicking under a happy sun.

Local artists have been featured, too. On Instagram, Phoenix-based muralist Nicole Poppell asked her followers to try to spot two of her Waymo designs, both of which have “nature elements” and are “kinda crazy looking.” One of them appears to be a stylized take on a swallow, whose wings are followed by an ombre blue design with blobs of blue checker patterns.

Waymo's parent company, Google, has been wrapping cars "since our earliest days," said Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp. The Waymos in San Francisco were first wrapped a couple of years ago, but Waymo began to wrap Phoenix's fleet at the beginning of May. Six artists from the cities that Waymo serves are participating to create 12 different designs. Two of these artists are based in Phoenix — Poppell and Stormy Mae, whose designs feature Black women and flowers.

"The artwork is inspired by the feeling of riding with Waymo and celebrating the cities where we are operating," Karp said.

Waymo came to the Valley in 2018, and its service has expanded since then. Today, Waymo cars can cover 315 square miles in the Phoenix area — spanning from Chandler to downtown Phoenix to Desert Ridge — making Phoenix the largest geographical area the company serves.

As a result, Waymo taxis have become a staple of the Phoenix landscape. (Last year, Phoenix New Times named them the Best Glimpse of a Robot-Controlled Future.) The plain Waymos roaming the streets far outnumber the more colorful cars, but it’s only right that a city so defined by its public art should have unnerving robot taxis to match.

So, the next time you call a Waymo, keep a lookout for a phone-scrolling dog or a bookworm kitten. Because there sure won’t be a driver.

Here are the Waymo cars designed by Poppell and Mae: