Alphabet will invest up to $5 billion in its self-driving subsidiary, Waymo, over the next few years. This announcement was made by Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, July 23.
This multi-year investment aligns with Alphabet’s ongoing commitment to developing Waymo into the world’s leading autonomous driving technology company.
Porat emphasized that the funding will support Waymo’s technical leadership and operational advancements. Alphabet’s “other bets” segment, which includes innovative projects such as Verily, Calico, Google Ventures, and Wing, saw quarterly revenue increase to $365 million from $285 million a year ago, though losses also widened to $1.13 billion from $813 million. Waymo is a key example of these investments.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai noted on the call that Waymo is currently providing over 50,000 paid rides per week, primarily in San Francisco and Phoenix. The service has completed 2 million trips to date.
Last month, Waymo removed its waitlist and opened rides to all users in San Francisco. Additionally, Waymo expanded its operations to Los Angeles and Austin, and it plans to launch a commercial driverless service in Austin later this year.
In 2020, Waymo raised $2.25 billion in its first external funding round, followed by another $2.5 billion in 2021. Investors included Andreessen Horowitz, AutoNation, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Fidelity Management & Research Company.
This latest $5 billion investment from Alphabet is seen as a significant vote of confidence in Waymo’s progress in technology, product development, and commercialization efforts.
This investment announcement comes at a time when other companies in the autonomous vehicle sector are facing setbacks. General Motors’ autonomous vehicle unit, Cruise, recently shut down the production of its self-driving shuttle, Origin. Similarly, Tesla postponed the unveiling of its dedicated robotaxi, CyberCab, from August to October 10.
Featured Image courtesy of Mario Tama/Getty Images
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