Alphabet-owned Waymo in talks to raise $15 billion in fundin

KEY POINTS

• Waymo is in discussions to raise more than $15 billion in a new funding round, valuing it at as high as $110 billion.
• Such funds would be more than double Waymos last round, which closed in October 2024 at a $45 billion valuation.
• The company leads the robotaxi race with plans to expand in more than a dozen more markets in 2026.

Self-driving car company Waymo is in talks to raise $15 billion in funding in the new year.

The robotaxi company plans to raise billions fromAlphabet, its parent company, as well as outside investors at a valuation as high as $110 billion, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

The latest funding discussions are indicative of Waymos status as the leader of the pack in the U.S.robotaxi market. The company has been spending heavily to ramp up its fleet and continue expanding to more regions. Waymo is now either operating its robotaxis, planning to launch service or starting to test its vehicles in 26 markets, in the U.S. and abroad.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Waymo will meaningfully contribute to Alphabets financials as soon as 2027, CNBCreportedTuesday.

If the Google sister company winds up raising as much as $15 billion, that would represent more than double the amount of its lastfunding round. That was a series C round of $5.6 billion at a $45 billion valuation, which closed in October 2024. Alphabet had committed $5 billion in a multiyear investment to Waymo at the time.

That round was led by Alphabet alongside previous backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T. Rowe Price. At the time, Waymo co-CEOs Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov said the funding would go toward expanding its robotaxi service.

Waymo currently serves paid rides to the public in the Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta and Los Angeles markets.

Earlier this month,CNBC reportedthat Waymo crossed an estimated 450,000 weekly paid rides, and the company in December said it had served14 million tripsin 2025, putting it on pace to end the year at more than 20 million trips total since launching in 2020.

The company plans to open service next year in Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego and Washington, D.C. Waymo also announced plans to launch its service inLondonin 2026, which will mark the companys first overseas service region.

AmazonsZoox this year began offering free driverless rides to the public aroundthe Las Vegas Stripand certainSan Francisconeighborhoods.Teslalaunched a Robotaxi-branded service inAustinand the San Francisco Bay Area, but those cars still had human drivers or safety supervisors on board as of mid-December.