Alphabet-owned Waymo in talks to raise $15 billion in funding

Waymo, the self-driving vehicle subsidiary of Alphabet, is reportedly in discussions to secure $15 billion in funding to bolster its operations in the upcoming year. The company aims to attract significant investments from Alphabet, its parent organization, alongside external investors, potentially valuing the firm at a remarkable $110 billion according to insiders familiar with the negotiations. This push for additional capital highlights Waymo's dominant position in the U.S. robotaxi sector. The company has been heavily investing in scaling its fleet and broadening its service areas. Currently, Waymo is either actively running its robotaxi services, planning new launches, or testing vehicles in 26 different markets both domestically and internationally. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, indicated that Waymo is expected to make a substantial impact on the company's financial performance by 2027, as reported by CNBC. Should Waymo successfully secure the projected $15 billion, it would more than double the amount raised in its previous funding round, which collected $5.6 billion at a valuation of $45 billion in October 2024. During that round, Alphabet committed $5 billion as part of a multi-year investment. Waymo co-CEOs Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov previously stated that the funds would be directed towards expanding the robotaxi service. Currently, Waymo offers paid rides in several major areas, including Austin, the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Recent reports indicate that Waymo has surpassed 450,000 weekly paid rides, and the company announced it had completed 14 million trips in 2025, aiming to exceed 20 million trips by the end of the year since its launch in 2020. Plans are underway to introduce services in cities such as Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., next year. Furthermore, Waymo has set its sights on launching operations in London by 2026, marking its first foray into international markets. In the competitive landscape, Amazon's Zoox has started offering complimentary driverless rides in select areas of Las Vegas and San Francisco, while Tesla has initiated a Robotaxi-branded service in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, though these vehicles still require human drivers or safety supervisors as of mid-December. The fundraising efforts were initially reported by Bloomberg.