Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving division, has achieved a significant milestone, reaching 10 million paid autonomous rides and currently providing approximately 250,000 rides weekly. This growth is evident in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. The company is rapidly expanding its services, with launches in Austin and planned rollouts in Atlanta, Miami, Washington, D.C., and potentially ten additional cities. Waymo has also initiated mapping data collection in Tokyo.
Despite this progress, Waymo faces profitability challenges due to high costs associated with vehicle ownership, retrofitting, mapping, and fleet management. Tesla is poised to enter the competition with its robotaxi service, which Elon Musk says has been testing in Austin, Texas, without safety drivers. A limited fleet is expected to launch on June 12, 2025, with scaling dependent on operational success.
Adding to the complexity, Alphabet is engaged in an antitrust lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice, with a final ruling anticipated by August 2025. Judge Mehta has expressed skepticism regarding a proposed 10-year structural separation plan. The outcome of this lawsuit could significantly impact Waymo's access to resources and its competitive position against rivals like Tesla. Alphabet has reached a preliminary settlement with shareholders who were also suing the company for allowing Google's anticompetitive behavior, which they believe exposed the company to "reputational damage" and "substantial costs." The new settlement will reportedly force Alphabet to rebuild its "global compliance structure" and will cost the company a minimum of $500 million over the next 10 years to make it happen.