Waymo said it will expand its robotaxi service in the United States to four additional cities in Texas and Florida, adding Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando to its growing service footprint. The company said the expansion, announced Tuesday, brings its coverage to 10 large U.S. metro markets.
In its announcement, Waymo said its robotaxis are already operating with more than 400,000 trips per week across six metropolitan areas: Phoenix; the San Francisco Bay Area; Los Angeles; Miami; Atlanta; and Austin, Texas. Waymo framed that record as evidence the service is scaling beyond early test sites.
For customers, Waymo said robotaxis are available on demand through its own app in U.S. cities nationwide, except in Atlanta and Austin. In those two markets, Waymo said riders can request robotaxis through Uber.
The company said the expansion marks a step toward its objective of surpassing 1 million robotaxi rides each week by the end of 2026. Waymo did not identify where its next planned service launches would be beyond the four cities announced this week.
Waymo also pointed to a list of eight additional cities it said it plans to add, including Las Vegas, Washington, Detroit and Boston. It also said its first overseas availability is likely to be in London.
Waymo’s announcement arrived amid heightened competition in robotaxi systems. The company said rival services from Tesla and Zoox—an Amazon unit—are still testing their vehicles in only a few U.S. cities.
To finance additional robotaxis, Waymo said it recently raised $16 billion as part of a funding effort that put the company’s valuation at $126 billion. The valuation, the company said, has fueled speculation that Waymo could eventually separate from its parent Alphabet, where it began as a secret project inside Google in 2009.