Latest news with #TekedraMawakana
TechCrunch
31-07-2025
- Automotive
- TechCrunch
Waymo's co-CEO on the truth behind autonomous vehicles at Disrupt 2025
Autonomous vehicles have long been touted as 'just around the corner,' but the reality of what it takes to bring self-driving cars to the streets is anything but simple. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27–29 at Moscone West in San Francisco, Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana joins the Disrupt Stage for a wide-ranging conversation on the current state of AVs — and where the industry goes from here. Inside the self-driving reality check While the headlines often focus on crashes, controversies, or overblown promises, Tekedra has spent years navigating the real-world path to autonomous mobility. At Disrupt, she'll dig into what it actually takes to scale AV deployment — from rider safety and public trust to the nuances of regulation, operations, and competitive pressure from Tesla and others. This session isn't about vague timelines or flashy demos. It's about what's working, what still needs work, and what it means to bring truly autonomous vehicles to life at scale. Whether you're a founder, investor, or just curious about the road ahead, you won't want to miss it. Image Credits:Waymo Meet the leader behind the wheel Tekedra Mawakana brings over two decades of experience shaping global strategy for some of the world's biggest tech companies. As co-CEO of Waymo, she guides the company's long-term mission to bring the Waymo Driver to the masses and lead the next generation of autonomous innovation. She also serves on the board of Intuit, advises Boom Technology, and supports a number of social impact ventures through her work as an investor and LP with Operator Collective. Get your pass to Disrupt before rates rise Waymo's story is a central chapter in the future of mobility, and this session offers a rare inside look at the journey behind the headlines. Join us at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 — where more than 10,000 startup and VC leaders gather to shape what's next. Register today and secure your spot with up to $675 in ticket savings before prices increase.
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Avis Budget Group Announces Multi-Year Strategic Partnership with Waymo
PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR), a leading global provider of mobility solutions, today announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Waymo, the leader in self-driving technology, to launch and scale a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Dallas. Through this agreement, Avis Budget Group will serve as Waymo's fleet operations partner in Dallas, delivering end-to-end services including infrastructure, vehicle readiness, maintenance, and depot operations. Waymo will offer its ride-hailing service directly to the public via the Waymo app, while maintaining responsibility for validation and performance of the Waymo Driver. Initial testing is already underway in Dallas with the public launch slated for 2026. For over 75 years, Avis has been a leader in the rental car industry. This new strategic partnership reflects an ambition to grow beyond travel and actively shape the future of mobility. It demonstrates Avis's ability to monetize its core strengths in large scale fleet management within a high-growth category at the forefront of technology. Avis is establishing its place as a strong partner to support and scale the operational backbone of autonomous vehicle networks. Brian Choi, Chief Executive Officer of Avis Budget Group, Inc. said, 'Our partnership with Waymo marks a pivotal milestone in our evolution, from a rental car company to a leading provider of fleet management, infrastructure and operations to the broader mobility ecosystem. Together, we're committed to making scaled autonomous mobility a reality for the people of Dallas, with plans to expand to additional cities in the near future.' Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO, Waymo, said, "We look forward to bringing our fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the people of Dallas next year, offering a new era of safe and seamless transportation. Working together with our fleet partner Avis, Waymo will offer more riders a stress-free way to get around.' Waymo and Avis are proud to usher in a new era of urban transportation to the people of Dallas. We look forward to this initial phase of our partnership and intend on scaling autonomous mobility to more cities together over time. ABOUT AVIS BUDGET GROUP We are a leading global provider of mobility solutions, both through our Avis and Budget brands, which have approximately 10,250 rental locations in approximately 180 countries around the world, and through our Zipcar brand, which is the world's leading car sharing network. We operate most of our car rental locations in North America, Europe and Australasia directly, and operate primarily through licensees in other parts of the world. We are headquartered in Parsippany, N.J. More information is available at FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements in this press release constitute 'forward-looking statements.' Any statements that refer to outlook, expectations or other characterizations of future events, circumstances, or results, including the partnership with Waymo discussed in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Various risks that could cause future results to differ from those expressed by the forward-looking statements included in this press release include, but are not limited to, risks related to the partnership with Waymo discussed in this press release, regulatory requirements and the other factors described in the 'Risk Factors' and 'Forward-Looking Statements' sections of Avis Budget Group's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2025. Accordingly, actual results, levels of activity, performance, achievements, and events could differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Investor Relations Contact:David Calabria, IR@ Media Relations Contact:Media Relations Team, ABGPress@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Alphabet's Waymo to Reach $6 Billion in Bookings by 2034 According to TD Cowen
On May 22, TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge said that Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) autonomous vehicle ride-hailing service Waymo is projected to achieve a gross booking of $6.1 billion in 2034. Blackledge mentioned that Waymo was the clear U.S. leader in the sector. The analyst cited that Waymo is now worth 2% of Alphabet and has an individual valuation of approximately $60 billion. During the Q1 FY2025 earnings call, the management highlighted that Waymo is serving over 0.25 million paid passenger trips each week, which is 5 times higher than a year ago. On May 21, co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana told CNBC that Waymo has reached 10 million trips, doubling in the past five months. During Q1, Waymo launched its paid service in Silicon Valley through a partnership with Uber. The company expanded its services in Austin and plans for a public launch in Atlanta this year. Blackledge projects Waymo will experience its vehicle numbers grow to more than 3,500 by the end of 2026. The company plans to launch in at least two new cities per year in the U.S. between 2027 and 2029 and three new cities between 2030 and 2034, Blackledge added. With this strategic plan, the analyst anticipates Waymo's gross bookings to jump from $230 million in 2025 to $6.1 billion in 2034. Despite being bullish on Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Waymo, Blackledge pointed out that the autonomous vehicle market was not a 'winner takes all' scenario. The analyst expects that Waymo's market growth would be driven partly by collaborations with its peers, such as Uber and Lyft. While we acknowledge the potential of GOOGL to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GOOGL and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. Read Next: and . Disclosure. None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Alphabet's Waymo to Reach $6 Billion in Bookings by 2034 According to TD Cowen
On May 22, TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge said that Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) autonomous vehicle ride-hailing service Waymo is projected to achieve a gross booking of $6.1 billion in 2034. Blackledge mentioned that Waymo was the clear U.S. leader in the sector. The analyst cited that Waymo is now worth 2% of Alphabet and has an individual valuation of approximately $60 billion. During the Q1 FY2025 earnings call, the management highlighted that Waymo is serving over 0.25 million paid passenger trips each week, which is 5 times higher than a year ago. On May 21, co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana told CNBC that Waymo has reached 10 million trips, doubling in the past five months. During Q1, Waymo launched its paid service in Silicon Valley through a partnership with Uber. The company expanded its services in Austin and plans for a public launch in Atlanta this year. Blackledge projects Waymo will experience its vehicle numbers grow to more than 3,500 by the end of 2026. The company plans to launch in at least two new cities per year in the U.S. between 2027 and 2029 and three new cities between 2030 and 2034, Blackledge added. With this strategic plan, the analyst anticipates Waymo's gross bookings to jump from $230 million in 2025 to $6.1 billion in 2034. Despite being bullish on Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Waymo, Blackledge pointed out that the autonomous vehicle market was not a 'winner takes all' scenario. The analyst expects that Waymo's market growth would be driven partly by collaborations with its peers, such as Uber and Lyft. While we acknowledge the potential of GOOGL to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GOOGL and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. Read Next: and . Disclosure. None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Waymo Claims to have Doubled its Robotaxi Trips in Five Months, Reaching 10 Million
Waymo, the autonomous ride-hailing business owned by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), accomplished 10 million paid robotaxi trips, co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana revealed at the Google I/O developer conference on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. The significant achievement doubles the total number of trips in just five months and includes rides in Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the Phoenix area. Mawakana stated: 'These are all paid trips, and they represent people who are really integrating Waymo Driver into their everyday lives,' A user's hands typing a search query into a Google Search box, emphasizing the company's search capabilities. According to Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s April earnings report, Waymo is currently providing more than 250,000 paid rides every week. This week, the company also got regulatory authority to extend its services to San Jose and other parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. The "Other Bets" division of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), which includes Waymo, reported $450 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2025, a 9% year-over-year drop, while operating losses grew to $1.23 billion from $1.02 billion. "We're proving out that it can be a profitable business," Mawakana added, even though Waymo is not yet profitable. The company is super focused on building a sustainable business. Waymo prioritizes safety over rival Tesla's planned robotaxi launch. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, announced that the service will debut in Austin the following month with a fleet of ten vehicles. Tesla aims to quickly expand to San Francisco and Los Angeles if it is successful. Unlike Waymo, Tesla's system is reliant on cameras rather than lidar or radar. 'There's probably a lot of ways it can be done, but we're the only ones that have done it,' she said. 'We've been doing it 24 hours a day for almost five years. And so to us, it's really important to focus on safety, not focus on safety and then cost — not cost and then safety.' While we acknowledge the potential of GOOGL to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GOOGL and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this READ NEXT: Nike Restructures the Technology Division, Laying Off Some Employees and Alphabet's Waymo has Secured Approval to Expand its Driverless Ride-Hailing Service to San Jose.
