Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous driving subsidiary, is in early-stage discussions to raise more than $15bn in fresh capital at a valuation approaching $100bn, underscoring renewed investor confidence in the long-term commercial potential of robotaxi technology. The funding round is expected to be led by Alphabet itself, with participation from external investors, according to people familiar with the matter.
The talks reflect Waymo’s growing prominence as one of the most advanced autonomous vehicle platforms globally, with fully driverless ride-hailing operations already active in several U.S. cities. While discussions remain preliminary and terms are not finalised, the size of the proposed raise would rank among the largest private funding rounds in the autonomous vehicle sector to date.
Alphabet’s willingness to anchor the round highlights its continued strategic commitment to Waymo, even as the parent company balances heavy capital spending across artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure and core search operations. For outside investors, the transaction offers rare exposure to a scaled autonomous driving business at a time when enthusiasm for AI-linked assets remains strong, despite broader caution toward capital-intensive technology ventures.
A valuation near $100bn would mark a step up from Waymo’s previous funding rounds and reflects progress in commercial deployment, regulatory engagement and public adoption. Unlike many earlier autonomy ventures that struggled to move beyond pilot stages, Waymo has focused on tightly controlled urban markets, incremental geographic expansion and high utilisation rates for its robotaxi fleet.
The prospective capital injection is likely aimed at accelerating fleet expansion, supporting further city launches, enhancing AI and sensor capabilities, and strengthening operational resilience as competition intensifies. Rivals including Tesla, Cruise and a range of Chinese autonomous driving players are all pursuing different paths to autonomy, raising the stakes for first-mover advantage.
For Alphabet, the deal would also reinforce Waymo’s status as a standalone long-duration growth asset, potentially setting the stage for greater strategic optionality in the future, including partnerships, partial spin-offs or public market access. While profitability remains some distance away, the scale of the proposed funding signals growing conviction that autonomous mobility is moving closer to commercial maturity.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.