Waymo, the self-driving car company owned by Alphabet, announced on Monday that it has raised $16bn in a funding round, valuing the subsidiary at $126bn. The investment, led by Dragoneer Investment Group and including Silicon Valley venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, signals a major push for global expansion of its robotaxi service.
Waymo's co-chief executives, Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov, described the funding as evidence that large-scale autonomous mobility is now a reality. In a blog post, they stated: 'This infusion of capital will ensure we are positioned to move forward with unprecedented velocity, while maintaining our industry-leading safety standards.'
The company aims to expand its robotaxi service from 10 US cities to around 20 metropolitan areas within a year, including London and Tokyo. Waymo's white Jaguars, equipped with cameras and sensors, have become a common sight on streets in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Last year, the company tripled its annual ride volume to 15 million and now provides over 400,000 rides weekly in six major US metropolitan areas.
Waymo faces growing competition from rivals such as Uber, which recently unveiled a Lucid robotaxi and plans to deploy a fleet in San Francisco later this year. Meanwhile, China's Apollo Go has also been expanding rapidly, demonstrating the reliability of fully autonomous driving.
