Alphabet announced on its quarterly earnings call that it would invest another $5 billion in its self-driving vehicle unit Waymo. “This new round of funding will enable Waymo to continue building the world’s leading self-driving vehicle company,” Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat said. Waymo is an “important example” of Alphabet’s long-term investment, the executive added.
Image source: waymo.com
Alphabet’s Other Bets business, which includes Waymo, posted quarterly revenue of $365 million, up from $285 million a year earlier. At the same time, the business’s losses grew from $813 million to $1.13 billion. Waymo customers make 50,000 robotaxi trips a week, and the company has completed 2 million trips to date, CEO Sundar Pichai said. In June, the company eliminated its wait list and made robotaxi rides available to anyone in San Francisco.
The company raised $2.25 billion in its first funding round in 2020. It followed up with another round in 2021, raising $2.5 billion from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, AutoNation, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Fidelity Management & Research Company.
Alphabet has decided to increase its investment in Waymo, while competitor Cruise (part of General Motors) said that the production of the fully self-driving car Origin is being postponed indefinitely. Tesla also announced that the presentation of the CyberCab robotaxi has been moved from August to October 10.
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Source: 3dnews.ru
