I don't think it's necessary to believe that the DMV's evaluation means anything about the quality of self-driving (and I don't think it means much).
The fact that they're permitting it means it will be happening in practice, which will generate lots of data points, which (a) will help the companies improve their software and (b) assuming it's not a disaster, will get people used to seeing self-driving cars that really work, which (from a practical-politics perspective) will make it much easier to get permission from other regional governments, and to expand the permits.
The fact that they're permitting it means it will be happening in practice, which will generate lots of data points, which (a) will help the companies improve their software and (b) assuming it's not a disaster, will get people used to seeing self-driving cars that really work, which (from a practical-politics perspective) will make it much easier to get permission from other regional governments, and to expand the permits.