Waymo, Alphabet’s robotic taxi unit, is now providing over 150,000 paid rides per week, up by more than 50% since August as the tech giant seeks to stay ahead of potential rivals in autonomous driving including Elon Musk’s Tesla. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed the weekly ride figure Tuesday during the company’s third-quarter results call. The Mountain View, California-based company didn’t say how much revenue Waymo generated in the quarter though its Other Bets business that includes the robotaxi service jumped 31% to $388 million, likely driven by the ride company which Pichai said is “the biggest part” of that portfolio. The operating loss for Other Bets narrowed by 6.5% to $1.1 billion in the three-month period. “Waymo is now a clear technical leader within the autonomous vehicle industry and creating a growing commercial opportunity,” Pichai said. “Now each week Waymo is driving more than 1 million fully autonomous miles and serves over 150,000 paid rides, the first time any AV company has reached this kind of mainstream use.” Rapid growth for the service, which jumped from 50,000 rides a week early in the year to 100,000 a week in August, comes as it carries more riders in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Barring any major accidents, growth should remain brisk in the months ahead as it further expands in Los Angeles, and launches in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta. To fund that expansion, Waymo last week said it raised an additional $5.6 billion, led by Alphabet and venture investors.

Full report : Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle company, Waymo’s weekly ridership has jumped more than 50% in two months and more than doubled since the start of 2024.