Waymo's Explosive Growth Sets The Pace As Tesla Prepares Robotaxi Launch

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, Inc. GOOG GOOGL has seen unprecedented growth in its ride-hailing operations and established itself as a leader in driverless vehicle technology.

What To Know: In just five months, from late 2024 to early 2025, Waymo doubled its total paid rides to reach the 10 million milestone. The company sees itself doubling that figure and reaching 20 million rides by the end of this year. 

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Waymo's weekly ride volume has soared to over 250,000 trips across its core markets: Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin. 

In California alone, ridership more than doubled within three months of paid rides being opened to the public, jumping from just over 200,000 passengers in May to nearly 500,000 by August 2024. The number of completed rides also surged, from 143,000 in May to more than 312,000 by August.

Charlie Bilello, chief market strategist for Creative Planning, posted a graph on X showing Waymo's explosive growth. 

"Self-driving taxi company Waymo is now doing over 700,000 rides per month in California, up from fewer than 100,000 a year ago," Bilello wrote. 

Tesla Enters The Ring: Elon Musk's Tesla, Inc. TSLA is set to launch its highly anticipated robotaxi service in Austin, Texas on June 12.  

The launch will begin as a limited pilot, with only about 10 modified Model Y vehicles operating as robotaxis in the city and marks the first "head-to-head" competition in the AV sector. 

Waymo recently announced it will test its AV taxis in several U.S. cities including San Antonio, Houston and Orlando as the company looks to maintain its lead against Tesla.

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