The Autonomous Taxi Arms Race Heats Up: Waymo's $15B Bet Against Tesla and Zoox

The battle for autonomous vehicle dominance is intensifying, and Waymo just made a bold move that signals serious confidence in its market lead.

Tesla and Zoox have been making noise, but their progress tells a different story. Tesla kicked off limited robotaxi testing in Austin with safety drivers roughly half a year ago, and Elon Musk recently claimed they’re now running tests completely driverless. However, the company has spent over a decade making self-driving promises that keep getting pushed back. Meanwhile, Zoox—Amazon’s autonomous vehicle play—launched complimentary rides near the Las Vegas Strip and select San Francisco areas. Zoox’s CTO Jesse Levinson indicated paid operations could arrive in Las Vegas in early 2026, with San Francisco following later that year. Both companies face hurdles: they still need proper federal and state clearances before going mainstream.

Waymo’s Massive Funding Round Signals Confidence

Waymo isn’t waiting around. The company is pushing to secure $15 billion in fresh capital for 2025, drawing from parent company Alphabet alongside external investors. If successful, this would value the company at $110 billion—nearly two-and-a-half times its previous funding round. Back in October 2024, Waymo raised $5.6 billion at a $45 billion valuation, with Alphabet contributing $5 billion alone. That earlier round also attracted heavyweight investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price.

Sundar Pichai, Alphabet’s CEO, recently stated that Waymo should start meaningfully contributing to Alphabet’s financial performance by 2027. The new capital is essential for fueling an expansion strategy that’s already consuming substantial resources.

Already Operating Across America

Waymo’s lead isn’t just theoretical. The service is already available in five major markets: Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. The numbers are striking—the company completed 14 million total trips through 2024 and is executing roughly 450,000 paid rides each week currently. At this pace, Waymo will surpass 20 million cumulative rides by the close of this year.

The expansion plans are equally aggressive. Waymo has targeted 11 additional American cities for launch: Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. On the international front, London is set to become Waymo’s first non-US market in 2026. Across the globe, the company maintains operations, upcoming deployments, or active testing programs in 26 cities.

The Market’s Turning Point

What makes Waymo’s $15 billion push remarkable isn’t just the scale—it’s the timing. With Tesla still sorting out basic autonomous features and Zoox eyeing a modest launch timeline, Waymo is consolidating its position. The capital influx will accelerate a market shift where one player moves decisively toward profitability while competitors scramble to catch up.