On March 14, 2024, a Waymo self-driving Jaguar taxi drove on the streets of Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
Waymo has closed a $5.6 billion funding round to expand its robotaxi services to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix (where the company currently operates) and beyond.
The self-driving car company is owned by Google parent company Alphabet, which led Waymo’s Series C investment. Early backers include Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T. Rowe Price.
Waymo co-executives Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov said in a statement published by CNBC that the funds will be used to expand and advance the commercial applications of Waymo Driver.
“With this latest investment, we will continue to welcome more riders to our Waymo One rides in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles, as well as Austin and Atlanta through our expanded partnership with Uber,” they wrote.
The Series C funding brings Waymo’s total funding to $11.1 billion, following its previous two rounds of $3.2 billion and $2.5 billion. Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat announced in July that the parent company would commit to a multi-year investment of up to $5 billion in Waymo.
While many companies are testing autonomous vehicles (AVs) on public roads in the United States, including well-funded ones Upstarts like WayveWaymo is the only company operating a commercial robotaxi service in several major metro areas.
The service has be hugged The suggestion was made by some women who had safety concerns about riding with unidentified human drivers. It is even used by parents to send their children Teenagers going to school When other transportation options feel less safe or convenient.
Waymo currently provides more than 100,000 rides per week to passengers in Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco, and passengers can hail robotaxis through the Waymo One app. Waymo recently partnered with Uber to launch a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, the state where potential rival Tesla is based.
Tesla CEO Musk has been promising self-driving cars for more than a decade. This week, he said Tesla will offer driverless rides in Texas and California next year, once the company upgrades some of the automated systems in existing vehicles that still require human drivers.
General Motors’ Cruise was Waymo’s closest competitor in the U.S. until it suspended operations in October 2023 after an incident in San Francisco in which a pedestrian was struck by a human driver in another vehicle. He was then dragged 20 feet by Cruise AV. Cruise is working to restore its service and plans to partner with Uber.
U.S. self-driving carmakers still must prove their technology is safer to use than human-driven taxis and trucks. As CNBC previously reported, a Pew Research Center survey showed that nearly two-thirds of U.S. respondents said they would not be willing to ride in a driverless passenger vehicle if given the opportunity.
Waymo’s self-reported data According to the analysis, their vehicles “are involved in accidents on public roads far less frequently than human drivers.” Learn about artificial intelligence Author Timothy B. Lee.
Still, Waymo initiated a software recall to improve the safety of its self-driving systems, and its self-driving cars sometimes blocked traffic, drove the wrong way down streets or crashed, but there were no known deaths or serious injuries.
Waymo’s next-generation robot taxi is the Geely Zeekr, equipped with customized sensors and an artificial intelligence “driver.” Waymo also recently agreed to a multi-year strategic partnership with Hyundai Motor to add the Korean automaker’s Ioniq 5 electric vehicle to its robotaxi fleet.
In August, Waymo said it would also test its self-driving cars in more severe winter weather in northern California, upstate New York and Michigan, hoping to offer robotaxi services outside the Sun Belt and eventually in Services provided internationally.
About The Author
