Most of the cash came from external investors, it’s also worth noting this is the first time the company has welcomed external investment. Investors included VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, auto part maker Magna, and American auto retailer AutoNation. Google’s parent company Alphabet also injected more cash into the project, New York Times reports. [Read: The 6 levels of autonomous driving, explained as fast as possible] According to Waymo CEO John Krafcik, the cash will be used to further develop Waymo’s team, technologies, and products. Since rolling out its self-driving taxi service in Arizona in 2018, the company has continually been working to expand and legitimize its offering in more locations. On Monday, Waymo also announced its intent to launch a delivery service, which would use autonomous vehicles including self-driving trucks. Earlier this year, Waymo said that it would be testing long-haul trucks in Texas and New Mexico. Originally founded as Google’s self-driving division in 2009, the project was rebranded as Waymo in 2016 and moved under the Alphabet umbrella of companies. Over the past few years the company has poured billions of dollars into self-driving tech. The Verge reported that its resource intensive business has cost Alphabet $1 billion. With the latest funding round, it’s got enough cash to continue operations for a few more years yet. Even if there are ongoing safety concerns surrounding autonomous vehicles, Waymo isn’t going away anytime soon.
