MW Waymo just extended its lead over Tesla and Amazon

By William Gavin

The Alphabet-backed company, fresh off a $16 billion round of new funding, is launching commercial operations in four additional cities

Waymo says its has collectively driven 200 million fully autonomous miles.

Waymo, the self-driving-car company backed by Google parent Alphabet, just made a major move to further its early dominance in the robotaxi market.

On Tuesday, Waymo said it would open its ride-hailing service to the public in four cities across Texas and Florida, marking the first time Waymo has kicked off operations in multiple cities at the same time. Waymo added Orlando, Fla., as well as three Texas cities - Dallas, Houston and San Antonio - to its roster. It had previously offered rides in Austin, Texas, and Miami, Fla.

In total, the Alphabet-backed $(GOOGL)$ $(GOOG)$ company offers commercial services in 10 U.S. cities, far outpacing its peers. Earlier this month, Waymo was valued at $126 billion following a $16 billion fundraising round.

Tesla $(TSLA)$, Waymo's chief rival, currently has a robotaxi service in Austin and offers ride-hailing services with a human driver behind the wheel in San Francisco. Amazon-backed (AMZN) Zoox offers free rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco. Uber Technologies (UBER) works with Waymo in Atlanta and Austin, as well as Avride in Dallas.

"We are on track to serve over one million rides per week by the end of this year," Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said in a statement.

The company on Monday said its fleet had collectively driven 200 million fully autonomous miles just seven months after it hit the 100 million milestone.

Waymo has another 18 cities targeted for expansion.

Read: Tesla could slide back into cash-burn mode as Elon Musk pursues his costly AI vision

But the company has had its fair share of setbacks. Last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul withdrew a proposal to permit commercial robotaxi services outside New York City, where Waymo is allowed to test its vehicles through March.

Sen. Edward Markey also recently criticized Waymo for using remote assistance agents based in another country to support its operations. The Massachusetts Democrat contends that the industry's reliance on such workers could create "serious" safety, privacy and national-security risks.

In a letter to the senator, Waymo said it operates two assistance facilities in the Philippines, plus assistance centers in Arizona and Michigan. Around 70 workers are on duty "at any given time" to monitor Waymo's fleet of about 3,000 robotaxis, according to the company.

See more: Less traffic, more lounge time, cheaper homes? How robotaxis promise a whole new world.

-William Gavin

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February 24, 2026 13:50 ET (18:50 GMT)

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