Waymo Hits 250,000 Weekly Paid Rides in U.S., Expands Robotaxi Footprint Amid Rising Competition

Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit, Waymo, has announced a major milestone, revealing that it is now delivering more than 250,000 paid robotaxi rides per week across the United States.

The disclosure came Thursday during Alphabet’s first-quarter earnings call, where CEO Sundar Pichai said the company was exploring multiple paths for scaling Waymo’s operations and business model.

Pichai emphasized that Waymo is building a network of partnerships with companies such as ride-hailing app Uber, automakers, and businesses specialized in operations and maintenance of vehicle fleets. He stressed that Alphabet recognizes the operational scale challenges associated with autonomous vehicles.

“We can’t possibly do it all ourselves,” he noted.

While the robotaxi service has made significant progress, Pichai admitted that Waymo’s long-term business model remains a work in progress. He said the company is still exploring possibilities, including the concept of “personal ownership” of vehicles equipped with Waymo’s self-driving technology, suggesting a potential future where individuals could own their own autonomous cars. Pichai added that scaling operations remains a central focus, particularly as Waymo enters new markets.

The 250,000 weekly rides mark a notable jump from the 200,000 figure the company reported in February, ahead of its March expansion into Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area. This growth reflects both increased demand and Waymo’s accelerated rollout strategy as it seeks to entrench itself in the emerging driverless ride-hailing market.

Waymo currently operates fully driverless commercial services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. Earlier this month, the company and its partner Uber began inviting riders to sign up for early access to Waymo’s robotaxi service in Atlanta, which is slated to launch in the summer. The Atlanta rollout signals Waymo’s determination to expand its footprint beyond its established markets and capture a larger share of the autonomous ride-hailing space.

Waymo, which falls under Alphabet’s Other Bets segment, remains one of the earliest pioneers in the self-driving vehicle industry. Over the past decade, it has outpaced competitors, including Elon Musk’s Tesla and several now-defunct autonomous vehicle startups, by bringing fully driverless services to commercial markets. While many players in the sector have folded under technical and regulatory challenges, Waymo has persisted, securing a leadership position in the nascent industry.

Tesla, however, remains determined to challenge Waymo’s lead. During Tesla’s first-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Musk renewed promises that Tesla would soon enter the robotaxi market. He said Tesla intends to turn its Model Y SUVs into fully driverless robotaxis by the end of June, launching its own ride-hailing service in Austin. Despite years of bold timelines and assurances, Tesla has yet to deliver a vehicle that can safely operate without a human driver ready to intervene. Its current systems, like Full Self-Driving (FSD) and Autopilot, still require driver supervision at all times, a gap that regulators and safety experts have repeatedly flagged.

Musk also took a swipe at Waymo during the earnings call, criticizing its approach to autonomous technology. He described Waymo vehicles as “very expensive” and said they are produced in “low volume.” Musk contrasted Waymo’s reliance on lidar, radar, and cameras for navigation with Tesla’s camera-only approach, implying that Tesla’s system would be more scalable and cost-effective in the long run.

The competition, however, extends far beyond Tesla. Other companies vying for a slice of the autonomous ride-hailing market include Amazon-owned Zoox, Intel’s Mobileye, May Mobility, and international players such as WeRide and Baidu’s Apollo Go. These firms are racing to deploy driverless technology at scale, each betting on slightly different technological strategies and business models.

Waymo’s current momentum, marked by the latest milestone of 250,000 weekly rides, strengthens its early mover advantage. However, as competition intensifies and promises from rivals multiply, the leadership of the broader industry is expected to be determined by factors such as technological maturity, cost-efficiency, and regulatory acceptance.