Alphabet reported that its Other Bets segment, which includes autonomous vehicle company Waymo, generated $372 million in revenue during the third quarter, representing an 8% increase from the prior year period. However, this revenue accounted for only 0.3% of the parent company’s total sales, underscoring Waymo’s limited contribution to overall financial results.
The unit’s operating losses have accelerated significantly. The Other Bets segment posted an operating loss of $2.05 billion in the most recent quarter, compared to $1.43 billion in the same period a year earlier. The segment also houses Isomorphic, an AI-focused drug design research business leveraging Google’s Gemini 4 Argon models.
Waymo continues to lead the U.S. robotaxi market and is pursuing aggressive international expansion. The company operates in 15 major U.S. cities and recently launched public services in San Antonio, San Diego, and Tampa. CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted plans to expand into Canada, Germany, Singapore, and Spain, with German operations slated to begin in 2027. This expansion marks Waymo’s third international market and first entry into the European Union. Additional milestones included starting driverless airport rides in Las Vegas after announcing service in five other cities including San Francisco and Phoenix.
Financially, Waymo has taken steps to support its growth trajectory. The company secured a $5 billion term loan, marking its first debt financing. Earlier in the year, Waymo had raised $16 billion at a $126 billion valuation in a funding round led by Alphabet and supported by venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Sequoia Capital, and Kleiner Perkins.
Waymo faces competition from Amazon’s Zoox and Tesla’s Robotaxi network globally, with China-based Baidu’s Apollo Go representing significant international competition. Pichai noted that Waymo has completed more than 300 million fully autonomous miles to date.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI