Alphabet's (GOOGL, Financial) autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Waymo, has completed a $5.6 billion funding round. This investment aims to expand Waymo's self-driving taxi services beyond its current operations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix.
The funding round was led by Alphabet, with participation from previous supporters such as Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price. Waymo's co-CEOs, Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov, stated that the funds would be used to expand and advance their technology, as well as the commercial application of the Waymo Driver.
The company plans to use this investment to extend its Waymo One ride-hailing service to more passengers in Austin and Atlanta in addition to existing cities. This expansion also includes deepening its partnership with Uber.
In July, Waymo's CFO, Ruth Porat, announced that Alphabet committed up to $5 billion in multi-year investments to support Waymo's growth and technological development.