Waymo Reaches 10 Million Autonomous Rides in Multiple US Cities

Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous vehicle subsidiary, has reached a significant milestone of 10 million paid autonomous rides, doubling its trips in the past five months across cities including Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, and recently expanding to San Jose. The company currently provides over 250,000 paid robotaxi rides weekly, indicating growing consumer integration of its Waymo Driver technology into daily life. Despite this growth, Waymo remains unprofitable, with Alphabet's 'Other Bets' segment reporting a 9% revenue decline to $450 million and operating losses increasing to $1.23 billion, though leadership emphasizes a clear path to profitability. Competition is intensifying, notably from Tesla, which plans to launch its autonomous taxi service in Austin with rapid expansion goals, relying primarily on camera-based systems compared to Waymo's lidar and sensor emphasis. The milestone signals strong confidence in AI-driven autonomous technologies and has positively influenced investor sentiment in both tech stocks and AI-related cryptocurrencies. Waymo's continued expansion and performance demonstrate the increasing mainstream adoption and commercial potential of autonomous vehicle technology.