Waymo targets international expansion after $16 billion round

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Alphabet, has raised $16 billion in a new funding round to scale its robotaxi fleet. The company announced the funding in a blog post on Monday, noting that the capital injection values Waymo at $126 billion. Alphabet supported the round and maintained its position as the majority investor.

The funding round was led by:

• Dragoneer Investment Group
• DST Global
• Sequoia Capital

With the new capital, Waymo plans to grow its fleet of autonomous vehicles to more than a dozen new cities internationally. The company is targeting over 20 additional cities for expansion in 2026, including London and Tokyo. In its announcement, the company emphasized its transition from testing to commercial operations, stating that it is no longer proving a concept. Instead, Waymo wrote: “We are scaling a commercial reality, laying the groundwork for ride-hailing operations in over 20 additional cities in 2026, including Tokyo and London.”

The funding follows a period of accelerated growth for the company, which does not appear to be slowing. Waymo currently provides 400,000 rides every week across six major U.S. metropolitan areas. In 2025, the company more than tripled its annual volume to 15 million rides, bringing its total to more than 20 million lifetime rides to date. This scale represents a significant leap from 2016, when Waymo first expanded its testing geographically to Phoenix. The company’s commercial momentum accelerated after August 2023, when it received its final necessary permit to operate and charge for rides in California. Since then, Waymo has expanded its services in San Francisco, Northern California, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, and Miami.

However, Waymo’s rapid expansion has also drawn regulatory scrutiny. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)—both U.S. government agencies—are investigating robotaxi safety incidents. Specifically, the NHTSA and NTSB have opened investigations into the illegal behavior of Waymo robotaxis around school buses, following reports of dangerous behaviors particularly in school zones. Additionally, the NHTSA launched an investigation after a Waymo robotaxi hit a child near a school. The child, who sustained minor injuries, was struck by the vehicle traveling at about 6 mph.

Why it matters

The massive capital injection signals that Waymo is transitioning from a localized experiment to an international infrastructure play. However, the company’s path to scale faces significant regulatory headwinds regarding safety as U.S. authorities investigate its operations.