A Waymo robotaxi carries passengers in Santa Monica, California.
Waymo, Alphabet’s robotic taxi unit, is now providing over 150,000 paid rides per week, up by more than 50% since August as the tech giant seeks to stay ahead of potential rivals in autonomous driving including Elon Musk’s Tesla.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed the weekly ride figure Tuesday during the company’s third-quarter results call. The Mountain View, California-based company didn’t say how much revenue Waymo generated in the quarter though its Other Bets business that includes the robotaxi service jumped 31% to $388 million, likely driven by the ride company which Pichai said is “the biggest part” of that portfolio. The operating........