Waymo has increased its planned first private loan to $5 billion and secured commitments from Pimco, Blackstone and Sixth Street, Investing.com reported Tuesday, citing Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs helped arrange the debt at 5.25 percentage points above the benchmark rate. The financing is expected to close in the near future, making this a reported commitment rather than completed borrowing.
Waymo sells fully autonomous rides rather than driver-assistance software. A rider chooses a destination in the Waymo app, receives designated pickup and drop-off points, unlocks the arriving vehicle with the app and follows its route on a passenger screen. The company’s current service page routes Atlanta and Austin bookings through Uber; riders in its other listed operating markets download Waymo’s app.
The product combines detailed maps of a service area with real-time sensor data and AI to locate the vehicle and drive from pickup to destination without a human at the wheel, according to Waymo. Scaling it means mapping new territory and buying fleets of sensor-equipped vehicles, not simply distributing another software download.
Waymo’s operating footprint has moved quickly. The company said in February that it was providing more than 400,000 weekly rides across six United States metropolitan areas, after tripling annual volume to 15 million rides in 2025. Its service page now lists riders served in 15 markets, while London, Tokyo and several more United States cities remain in the “up next” group.
Debt is a new layer in Waymo’s funding model. The Alphabet subsidiary raised $16 billion of equity at a $126 billion post-money valuation in February, with Alphabet remaining its majority investor. The reported $5 billion loan would avoid another immediate ownership sale, but it would add interest expense to a business paying for vehicles, computing and city-by-city expansion.
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