Thomas Witt

🦄x100 Wow Waymo is now a centicorn! Here’s why this signal is important 👇🏼 Alphabet Inc. and a powerhouse syndicate (Sequoia Capital , Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global ) just raised $16 billion into Waymo lifting it’s valuation at $126 Billion. That is more than the market cap of Ford Motor Company or General Motors . 🚀The mother of all "moonshot projects" I helped launch is now well on its path to entering the commercialization roadmap we designed to scale the world’s first physical AI. Here is what the new round of cash will likely be used for the 26-27 playbook: 🏙️ City expansion from the 5 today to over dozen more new markets at similar scale. Scaling fleet deployments across the Sun Belt and East Coast into the snowy, icy places. 🚕Fleet expansion: This funding is pure fuel for the fleet. They’re moving from retrofitted JLR Jaguars to the purpose-built Zeekr International RT rebranded to the Ojai platform. 🛫 10+ Major Hubs: Full curbside terminal access no more "shuttle to a lot." Just curbside autonomy. Waymo is slowly going to become the default for business airport travel. 🔐Security and safety- many riders have expressed feeling safer, Waymo’s female customers speak about how safer they feel not having to ride with a male driver at night knowing their home address. ‼️We can’t underscore how many women do not feel safe traveling on their own and at night. This is going to be a game changer. 🌏 Going Global 🇬🇧London (April 2026): First international pilot kicks off this spring. Commercial customer operations targeted for Q4. 🇯🇵Tokyo: Waymo Driver to operate in Tokyo in phases. 📈The hockey-stick curve is officially here: Total Paid Rides: Surpassed 20 million cumulative trips >15 million in 25 alone! . 2025 Volume: Averaged ~1.2M rides per month. 2026 Volume: Already pacing at 1.8M+ rides per month pre dozen city openings. 🥅The New Goal: 1M paid rides per week by Christmas. 💰 What’s makes it worth $126 Billion? Investors are no longer betting on if it works. They are betting on unit economics. 📉The new Zeekr platform is expected to slash hardware costs by 50%. The next gen Waymo AI is optimizing as it learns all the different operating scenarios, pick up and drop offs and our riding behaviors. Up until this year it’s still been learning and experiencing the way we move, ride and pay. Now it knows. 💸The biz model is starting to gel but has more to come. 🙅🏻The rage bait skeptics are going a little more quiet ( if that’s possible) 🙋🏻‍♀️The riders are voting with their rides, even adjacent road users say they notice a change in overall travel behavior. Lot’s more to come. This is still early and the beginning. As always follow me Timothy Papandreou for the latest in emerging technology. What city should open next? 📷 🛫Waymo interim “PUDO” pick up/drop off at SFO by Annie! 🫡

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