1. News
  2. Waymo Raises $5.6 Billion to Expand Robotaxi Se...

Waymo Raises $5.6 Billion to Expand Robotaxi Services | Festina Lente - Your leading source of AI news | Turtles AI

Waymo Raises $5.6 Billion to Expand Robotaxi Services
Company boosts self-driving technology, expands operations in new U.S. cities
Isabella V28 October 2024

 

 

Waymo has closed a $5.6 billion funding round, enhancing the Waymo One robotaxi service and its self-driving system. The company is targeting a major expansion in several U.S. cities in 2024, improving safety and operational efficiency.

Key points:

  • Waymo raised $5.6 billion in a Series C round.
  • Company expands robotaxi service to new cities through strategic partnerships.
  • Waymo Driver continues to evolve with a new generation of autonomous technology.
  • Waymo commits to improving road safety with a dedicated hub.

Waymo announced today that it has completed a significant Series C financing round, raising $5.6 billion. This deal, led by Alphabet and backed by prominent investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity and Tiger Global, enables the company to accelerate the growth of its Waymo One robotaxi service, already active in cities such as San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles, with plans to expand to Austin and Atlanta through an expanded partnership with Uber. With plans to further improve its autonomous driving system, Waymo Driver, the company is preparing to support a growing range of commercial applications. Chase Coleman, founder of Tiger Global, praised Waymo for its ability to attract customers and establish key alliances, emphasizing its commitment to safety and innovation in the industry. In 2023, Waymo received the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award, a recognition of its leadership in the robotaxi market. WeRide, another company in the autonomous vehicle sector, also recently attracted significant investment, raising $440.5 million, reflecting the growing interest in autonomous technology. Waymo, for its part, said it has made significant commercial progress in 2024, expanding its services in several areas, including providing airport services in Sky Harbor. The partnership with Uber will lead Waymo to offer autonomous transportation services in Austin and Atlanta in 2025. In addition, the company has launched fully autonomous operations on highways in a number of cities, leading to more than 100,000 weekly trips, a significant increase over the previous year. Egon Durban, co-CEO of Silver Lake, said Waymo is at the forefront of illustrating the potential of AI in physical transportation through cutting-edge research and hands-on experience. The company recently introduced the sixth generation of the Waymo Driver, featuring cost optimization and improvements in operational capabilities. This new robotaxi is equipped with advanced technology, including 13 cameras, 4 lidars and 6 radars, to provide a complete view of the surrounding environment up to 500 meters in any direction, regardless of weather conditions. Waymo is implementing this technology on electric vehicles such as Geely’s Zeekr models and Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 SUV, with which it has established recent strategic partnerships. Finally, the company has created a safety impact hub to promote transparency regarding progress in road safety by incorporating periodic reports on its operations.

In this way, Waymo intends to continue to expand the benefits of its technology and continuously improve the user experience.

 

 

Video