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Waymo’s latest autonomous driving tech is integrated into Geely’s all-electric Zeekr vehicles. | Source: Waymo
Waymo announced today it closed an oversubscribed Series C round totaling $5.6 billion. With this latest investment, the company said it will continue to welcome more riders into its Waymo One robotaxi service in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, and in Austin and Atlanta through its expanded partnership with Uber.
The self-driving unit of Alphabet also said it will continue advancing its autonomous driving system, the Waymo Driver, to support a variety of business applications over time. Alphabet led the round, which also included participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price.
“Customers love Waymo. The company has built the safest product in the autonomous vehicle ecosystem as well as the best,” Chase Coleman, founder of Tiger Global, said. “Their proven experience fostering rider loyalty, securing key partnerships, and collaborating with automotive industry leaders demonstrates their ability to balance ambitious goals with responsible execution, positioning them as the enduring leader in the space.”
Waymo won a 2023 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award winner for its continued leadership in the robotaxi market.
Waymo isn’t the only autonomous vehicle company bringing in large investments today. WeRide, a Chinese autonomous vehicle firm, raised $440.5 million from its U.S. initial public offering (IPO) and a private placement, according to Reuters. WeRide creates autonomous taxis, vans, buses, and street sweepers. It’s currently testing its technology in 30 cities across seven countries.
2024 a year of expansion for Waymo
Waymo said it has made incredible commercial progress in 2024. It expanded its service areas in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, including providing curbside service at Sky Harbor International Airport.
Through its expanded partnership with Uber in Austin and Atlanta, Waymo said it will begin to serve riders in those cities in 2025. Additionally, to create an even more useful experience, it announced it has started fully autonomous freeway operations in Phoenix and San Francisco. These efforts have enabled the company to provide over 100,000 paid weekly trips—a tenfold increase from last year, it said.
“While AI is only just beginning to capture the public imagination, Waymo has been working to bring its endless possibilities to the world of physical transportation for years,” said Egon Durban, co-CEO at Silver Lake. “The Waymo Driver leads in earning trust by safely actualizing the value and potential of AI through cutting-edge research, practical solutions, and a vastly expanding scope and scale of real world experience.”
Waymo’s 6th generation driver
As its Waymo One ridership grows, the company said it remains focused on expanding the safety and mobility benefits of the Waymo Driver to more places while enhancing its operational capabilities. To this end, the company recently introduced the 6th-generation Waymo Driver, optimized for cost and enhanced capabilities.
The company’s latest robotaxi is equipped with 13 cameras, 4 lidar, 6 radar, and an array of external audio receivers (EARs). This optimized sensor suite, which also comes with reduced costs, provides the vehicle with overlapping fields of view, all around the vehicle, up to 500 meters away, day and night, and in a range of weather conditions.
Waymo is rolling out this technology on Geely’s all-electric Zeekr vehicles and Hyundai’s all-electric IONIQ 5 SUV. Waymo partnered with Geely in 2021 to integrate its autonomous driving system into a version of Zeekr, which China-based Geely says was designed in Sweden specifically for autonomous ride-hailing. And earlier this month, it established a multi-year, strategic partnership with Hyundai Motor Co.
To foster transparency and understanding, the company recently launched a safety impact hub offering insights into how the Waymo Driver enhances road safety. It said this complements its regularly published papers detailing its safety record.