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Alphabet Inc.'s autonomous driving unit Waymo is reportedly pursuing its first major fundraising in over a year, seeking multi-billions of dollars at a valuation around $100 billion as the robotaxi market enters critical expansion phase.
Credit：Waymo
The Information reported Tuesday that Waymo is in early discussions with potential investors to raise at least several billion dollars, possibly exceeding $10 billion, at a valuation of at least $100 billion. Bloomberg later reported the funding round could surpass $15 billion with a valuation approaching $100 billion, potentially reaching as high as $110 billion, led by parent company Alphabet and including external backers.
The fundraising marks Waymo's first capital raise since October 2024, when it secured $5.6 billion from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global and FIdelity at a $45 billion valuation. Notably, Waymo did not pursue additional funding during this year's artificial intelligence (AI) investment frenzy.
The potential valuation more than doubles last year's figure, underscoring Waymo's position as the dominant player in autonomous ride-hailing despite intensifying competition from Tesla Inc., Amazon.com Inc.'s Zoox and Chinese rivals.
Aggressive Expansion Across Markets
Waymo maintains its lead in the U.S. robotaxi market with operations, planned launches or testing underway in 26 markets domestically and abroad. The company currently provides paid rides in five cities—Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta and Los Angeles—up from three at year-end 2024.
Last week, Waymo disclosed its vehicles had completed 14 million rides in 2025, putting it on track to exceed 1 million rides weekly by late 2026. The company crossed an estimated 450,000 weekly paid rides earlier this month, according to CNBC.
In 2026, Waymo plans service launches in 11 U.S. markets including Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego and Washington, D.C. The company will also debut its first international service in London next year and has begun testing in New York and Tokyo.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in November that Waymo would scale up "pretty aggressively" and expected the unit to become "meaningful in our financials" by 2027-2028, according to audio obtained by CNBC.
Financial Pressure and Operational Challenges
Waymo operates within Alphabet's "Other Bets" division, which has faced pressure to achieve independence as part of efficiency efforts. The segment reported $344 million revenue in the third quarter, down from $388 million a year earlier, while losses widened from $1.12 billion to $1.34 billion.
Alphabet has permitted outside investment partly to buffer against headwinds from the capital-intensive autonomous driving business.
The company faces operational challenges as it expands. Waymo issued a software recall after Texas officials reported its robotaxis illegally passed school buses at least 19 times since the school year began. In San Francisco, Waymo vehicles hit and killed a cat in October and struck a dog in November. A Los Angeles incident saw a Waymo drive through an active police standoff.
Competitive Landscape Heats Up
Waymo remains the only major operator running fully driverless services across multiple U.S. cities. Tesla continues testing its Robotaxi service in Austin and San Francisco Bay Area with human supervisors onboard, while Zoox offers free rides without driver controls in Las Vegas and San Francisco but awaits federal approval for commercial operations.
Chinese competitors pose significant challenges. Baidu's Apollo Go surpassed 250,000 weekly driverless rides in October, matching Waymo's April pace, and disclosed 17 million robotaxi orders through September. Apollo Go operates across several Chinese cities and is expanding to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Switzerland and Hong Kong, with plans for U.K. and Germany launches via a Lyft partnership in 2026.
Pony.ai operates throughout Shenzhen and Beijing suburbs, while WeRide runs services in Beijing, Guangzhou, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh in partnership with Uber. WeRide maintains a 1,600-vehicle fleet and holds driverless permits in France, Singapore, Switzerland and the U.S.
Despite public skepticism—an American Automobile Association survey showed 66% of U.S. drivers felt fearful about autonomous vehicles in early 2025—robotaxi services are gaining traction. Parents send teens to activities in Waymos, and women cite privacy advantages over traditional ride-hailing services.
The exact terms and timeline of Waymo's fundraising remain undetermined, with completion expected early next year, according to people familiar with the plans. Waymo declined to comment.
