Waymo secures $16 billion to fuel international robotaxi expansion

Waymo, the Alphabet-owned company, has secured $16 billion to fuel its expansion. The company plans to grow its fleet of robotaxis (autonomous taxi services) to more than a dozen new cities internationally this year, including London and Tokyo. This expansion builds on Waymo’s current commercial operations in six U.S. markets: the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, and Miami. Across these major metropolitan areas, the company provides 400,000 rides every week, and in 2025, its annual ride volume reached 15 million rides.

While Waymo scales its passenger services, investors continue to back physical AI (artificial intelligence applied to physical hardware and robotics) and autonomous vehicle startups targeting non-passenger applications. For example, Bedrock Robotics raised $270 million in Series B funding (the second stage of venture capital funding). The startup, which has raised more than $350 million in total, develops self-driving systems for construction equipment.

Other physical AI and mobility transactions include:

• Skyryse: The El Segundo, California-based aviation automation startup raised more than $300 million in a Series C investment (the third stage of venture capital funding), pushing its valuation to $1.15 billion.
• Overland AI: The Seattle-based startup raised $100 million.
• GoCab: The African startup raised a $45 million financing round.
• Additive Drives: The European company raised €25 million ($29.5 million).
• Mitra EV: The Los Angeles-based company raised $27 million in financing.
• Plug: The startup raised $20 million in a Series A round.
• R3 Robotics: The European startup raised €20 million ($23.6 million).
• Apeiron Labs: The autonomous underwater vehicles startup closed a $9.5 million Series A round.

Regulatory and legal developments continue to shape the sector. In China, the government has banned concealed electronically actuated door handles, requiring all new cars sold in the country to feature mechanical releases by January 1, 2027. Meanwhile, in the U.S., a lawsuit against Uber resulted in an $8.5 million verdict. A jury determined Uber was liable as an apparent agent of the driver after a woman alleged she was raped by her Uber driver in November 2023. An Uber spokesperson stated that the “verdict affirms that Uber acted responsibly and has invested meaningfully in rider safety. We will continue to put safety at the heart of everything we do.” Additionally, historical scrutiny continues to follow the sector; files revealed that David Stern, an investor in the defunct EV startup Canoo, was a close business partner of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Why it matters

Waymo’s massive capital injection highlights the high stakes of the robotaxi race, while the surge in funding for specialized AV startups signals that investors are betting on practical, non-passenger applications of autonomous technology.