On March 14, 2024, a Waymo self-driving Jaguar taxi drove on the streets of Los Angeles, California.
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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 also 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 Some women rode with unidentified human drivers for safety reasons. It is even used by parents to send their 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 would offer Driverless taxi hailing Service will be available in Texas and California next year once the company upgrades the partially automated systems in its existing vehicles, which currently 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 car makers still must prove their technology is safer to use than human-driven taxis and trucks. As CNBC reported beforeNearly two-thirds of U.S. respondents said they would not ride in a driverless passenger vehicle if given the opportunity, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
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, which have sometimes seen its self-driving cars stop traffic, drive the wrong way down streets or crash (with no known deaths or serious injuries).
Waymo’s next-generation robotaxi is Gilizek It’s equipped with custom sensors and artificial intelligence “drivers.” Waymo also recently agreed to a multi-year strategy Cooperation with Hyundai Motor This will 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.
