Waymo, the autonomous vehicle division of Alphabet, has successfully raised $16 billion in funding to accelerate its global expansion of driverless taxicabs. The company plans to increase its fleet in the coming year to over a dozen new cities worldwide, including major urban centers such as London and Tokyo.
Leading this significant funding round are prominent investors including Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital, propelling Waymo’s valuation to an impressive $126 billion. Alphabet, the parent company, not only backed this latest round but also continues to hold majority ownership.
The investment round also saw contributions from other key players, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Mubadala Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price. Additional financial backing came from firms like BDT & MSD Partners, CapitalG, and Fidelity Management & Research Company, among others.
Waymo intends to deploy these funds to further its growth trajectory, which has noticeably accelerated over the last year. The company has commenced operations at San Francisco International Airport and broadened its robotaxi service throughout Northern California and various metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles, Austin, and Miami.
Initially, the self-driving project, previously known as Google’s initiative, made gradual progress, testing its technology on public streets in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. It gained significant momentum in 2016 when it expanded testing to Phoenix, where it ultimately operated a fleet of driverless Chrysler Pacifica minivans without human safety drivers.
In August 2023, Waymo received the final permit necessary to operate and charge for rides in California, leading to a successful limited launch in San Francisco. This service has expanded to cover much of the Bay Area and beyond, including Los Angeles and Austin through a partnership with Uber, and Miami earlier this year.
The expanded operations have resulted in a remarkable increase in ridership, with Waymo reporting approximately 400,000 rides each week across six major U.S. cities. In 2025, the company more than tripled its ride volume to 15 million, surpassing a cumulative total of 20 million rides to date.
In its blog post, Waymo emphasized its current efforts, stating, “We are no longer proving a concept. We are scaling a commercial reality, laying the groundwork for ride-hailing operations in over 20 additional cities in 2026, including Tokyo and London.”
However, this rapid expansion has also attracted scrutiny. Reports of unsafe behavior from some of Waymo’s robotaxis, particularly in sensitive areas like school zones, have drawn the attention of both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. Recent incidents have included investigations into the robotaxis’ interactions with school buses and an incident where a Waymo vehicle struck a child near a school, resulting in minor injuries.
As Waymo advances its mission to redefine urban mobility, it must navigate the growing public and regulatory concerns while continuing to expand its services on a global scale.
