Waymo raises $16B to scale robotaxi fleet internationally

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle division of Alphabet, has successfully raised $16 billion to enhance its fleet of driverless taxis, with plans to extend its services to over a dozen new cities worldwide, including major global hubs like London and Tokyo. This substantial funding round was led by prominent investors such as Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital, elevating Waymo's valuation to an impressive $126 billion, as highlighted in a recent blog entry from the company. Alphabet, Waymo's parent company, played a crucial role in this funding round, maintaining its status as the majority stakeholder. The investment pool also saw significant contributions from venture firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Mubadala Capital, along with Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake, and T. Rowe Price, among others. The capital raised will be pivotal in accelerating Waymo's growth trajectory, which has seen notable advancements in the past year. Waymo's recent achievements include the launch of rides to and from San Francisco International Airport and an expansion of its robotaxi services throughout Northern California, as well as in major cities across the United States, such as Los Angeles, Austin, and Miami. Initially a project under Google, Waymo has made steady progress over the years, conducting public road tests in Silicon Valley and showcasing its technology through selective demonstrations. The company made significant strides in 2016 by initiating tests in Phoenix, ultimately becoming its first market to allow the public to hail driverless Chrysler Pacifica minivans. The pace of development quickened in August 2023 when Waymo obtained the final permit needed to launch a fully operational and chargeable robotaxi service in California. Following this, it began limited operations in San Francisco, which expanded to cover much of the Bay Area and connections to surrounding towns, with a recent extension to Los Angeles. By the start of 2025, Waymo had also launched services in Austin and Atlanta through a partnership with Uber, and it further expanded to Miami. This geographic growth has enabled Waymo to provide approximately 400,000 rides each week across six major U.S. metropolitan areas. The company reported that in 2025 alone, it more than tripled its annual ride volume to 15 million, bringing its lifetime total to over 20 million rides. In its blog post, Waymo emphasized its shift from concept validation to commercial scaling, announcing plans to expand ride-hailing operations to more than 20 additional cities in 2026, including Tokyo and London. However, this rapid expansion has not come without challenges; Waymo's robotaxis have faced scrutiny due to safety concerns. Reports indicate that some vehicles have displayed unsafe behaviors, particularly in school zones, prompting investigations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Recent incidents, including a collision involving a child near a school, have underscored the need for ongoing oversight and improvements in safety measures.