Waymo has raised another $16 billion to speed up its plan to scale robotaxi rides worldwide as rivals backed by Tesla and Amazon push to catch up.
The funding round values Waymo at about $126 billion, highlighting surging investor interest in the fast-growing robotaxi market. Once a Google “moonshot” project, Waymo’s valuation has jumped sharply in recent years, with analysts putting it near $30 billion just five years ago.
Alphabet led the round alongside major venture and investment firms. Waymo says the money will help expand beyond the six U.S. metro areas where it already operates in California, Arizona, Georgia, Texas, and Florida, with plans to enter more than 20 additional cities including London and Tokyo. The company says it now delivers over 400,000 rides per week.
Waymo says it can scale faster while maintaining its safety standards, but its vehicles have faced incidents that sparked public backlash and regulatory attention, including disruptions during a major San Francisco power outage and federal scrutiny in Austin over behavior around school buses.
Competition is intensifying, with Amazon-backed Zoox expanding in San Francisco and Tesla continuing to pursue a nationwide robotaxi network.