Alphabet's Self-Driving Subsidiary Waymo Hits $45 Billion Valuation – Surpassing Ford, Other Major Brands

Waymo, the autonomous driving technology subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. GOOGGOOGL, recently reached a valuation exceeding $45 billion in a new fundraising round.

The company, which operates driverless cars in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin, raised $5.6 billion in the funding round, including existing Waymo investors Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity and Perry Creek, according to Bloomberg.

Users can order driverless taxis through the Waymo app. By some metrics, Waymo's autonomous cars are already safer than human drivers, according to the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association.

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Uber Technologies UBER and Waymo announced a partnership in May 2023 to bring Waymo's driverless cabs to Uber's app, recently adding Atlanta and Austin to their supported markets. The companies will have to compete with Cruise, a self-driving startup subsidiary of GM, as well as Tesla, which plans to rollout its Cybercab sometime next year. 

The latest valuation of Waymo puts it ahead of Ford Motor Co, which has a current market capitalization of $40 billion. Waymo's valuation is also higher than the market caps of names like Delta Air Lines ($37 billion), Taco Bell owner Yum Brands ($37 billion), Lulu Lemon ($38 billion).

Alphabet reported earnings after the close Tuesday, delivering strong quarterly results aided by growth in its cloud division. Shares of the company traded up nearly 7%, but gave up some of those gains Thursday amid a sell-off in the overall tech market.

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Photo courtesy of Waymo.