Bloomberg Talks: Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana Talks Growth

Date: February 12, 2026
Host: Bloomberg (Interviewer: B)
Guest: Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo (C)

Overview

In this wide-ranging, insightful interview, Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana discusses Waymo’s $16 billion funding round and the company’s rapid growth. She addresses the operational, regulatory, and technological challenges of scaling autonomous robotaxis, safety performance, global expansion to cities such as London and Tokyo, ongoing scrutiny and incidents, and the broader autonomous vehicle (AV) landscape. Mawakana provides candid answers on Waymo’s priorities, lessons learned, and the metrics by which she’ll judge success moving forward.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Major Funding Round and What It Unlocks

• Waymo recently raised $16 billion at a $126 billion valuation, with Alphabet as the lead investor and new participation from Sequoia, DST, and Dragonair.
• Purpose: The capital will be used to accelerate scale across cities, refine hardware, expand the team, and improve unit economics.
• “[The raise] is really a vote of confidence ... It just allows us to continue to scale our business. Right now we're laying the groundwork for over 20 cities in this year alone.” (C, 00:45)
• The scale has increased: “We quadrupled the number of trips ... offered 15 million rides [in 2025] ... and have over 20 million lifetime rides.” (C, 01:42)
• The funding is not just operational, but a validation that the technology and adoption are at an inflection point.

2. Scaling Robotaxi Operations: Opportunities and Challenges

• Current scale: 400,000 paid rides per week across six cities and plans for 20+ cities in 2026.
• “Execution, execution, execution. So scaling across these 20 cities... making sure that we are continuing to cost down our hardware stack and prove out our unit economics while scaling our fleet.” (C, 04:05)
• New vehicle variants (IPACE fleet, Ohio vehicles, Ioniq 5s) to be deployed.
• Regulatory hurdles persist; New York City is highlighted as both a challenge and a potential opportunity pending regulatory shifts.

3. Community Integration and Cultural Moments

• Waymo has become embedded in daily life and cultural events, such as handling transport during the Super Bowl, the Grammys, and All Star Weekend.
• “Waymo is part of the fabric of the Bay Area ... people are using the Waymo service in everyday errands ... and then these large cultural moments.” (C, 05:28)
• Cultural integration leads to organic demand and local campaigns calling for Waymo’s expansion.

4. Path to Public Company and Global Expansion

• Waymo is laser-focused on execution and scaling, not prematurely focused on a public listing.
• “Make sure we maintain the safety culture. That's what we're really focused on.” (C, 07:15)
• First launches outside the US planned for London and Tokyo.
• “Focusing on our two first international launches, you know, London and Tokyo, and scaling across the United States.” (C, 07:15)

5. City Launch Process and Regulatory Partnerships

• Quick launches possible in welcoming regulatory climates (e.g., Miami in “a couple of months”).
• In complex cities, emphasis is on demonstrating safety (e.g., “90% fewer serious injury causing crashes”) and building trust with local partners.
• “We have the burden to demonstrate our safety impact ... and then grow trust ... we do that by partnering with organizations ... and training law enforcement and first responders.” (C, 08:15)

6. The Need for a Federal AV Framework

• Current fragmented city/state rules hamper uniform deployment.
• “We think it's really important that there is a federal AV standard ... you can't lead globally if it's a framework that's governed by multiple jurisdictions across the states.” (C, 10:02)

7. New York City Challenges

• NYC’s lack of regulatory framework allowing removal of the human operator is a roadblock, but interest exists at the state level and from citizen campaigns.
• “They do not have rules that allow the human operator to be removed from the vehicle entirely.” (C, 11:22)
• “We're seeing organic campaigns spring up saying, ‘I want Waymo in my town’...it's been really exciting for us to see people demanding it.” (C, 11:30)

8. London and Tokyo Launches: Regulatory and Market Nuances

• London launch: Largest citywide deployment to date, with UK regulators “extremely forward leaning.”
• “Within London's regulatory framework and the UK's ... they've been extremely forward leaning and interested in seeing how this technology could actually improve safety on their roadways.” (C, 13:25)
• Tokyo/Japan: Partnerships with local operators (Neon Kotsu and Go) and Toyota facilitate integration and trust.
• “The drivers of those vehicles are part of that partnership ... They're collecting the data for us ... helping to usher in this change.” (C, 15:51)

9. Competition, Partnership, and the Global AV Race

• Competition from Chinese companies acknowledged; views strong competition as positive for safety and innovation.
• “If there are other companies focused on autonomous driving to make roads safer, we think that's positive...we don't think there's anyone who's doing anything close to what we're doing.” (C, 17:43)

10. Safety & Notable Incidents

• Two regulatory investigations covered:
  • Santa Monica incident: Waymo robotaxi struck a child at low speed, but “human would not have been able to perform as our superhuman driver performed.” (C, 19:47)
  • School bus interactions: Issue addressed with a software update, partner with Austin School District for further data learning.
  • Cautious to declare “total fix” as scenarios/angles/contexts always evolve.
• “First and foremost, this was a child. And we are extremely happy that she walked away from this incident.” (C, 19:47)
• Welcomes regulator scrutiny and sees cooperation as an opportunity for transparency and improvement.

11. Technological Edge: Redundancy and Sensor Suite

• Stresses the importance of multi-sensor redundancy (camera, lidar, radar) over “vision only” (e.g., Tesla approach).
• “If you can see and smell and taste and touch and have all of your senses, why wouldn't you? ... This has been critical to our approach and it's allowed us to scale and achieve these safety results.” (C, 23:48)

12. Metrics for Success

• By end of 2026: Aim for over 1 million paid trips per week.
• “By the end of 2026, we will be doing over 1 million paid trips per week by the end of this year.” (C, 25:30)
• Stresses continued measurement on both quantitative metrics (trips completed, safety outcomes) and qualitative (maintaining safety-first company culture).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Scaling Up:
  “Execution, execution, execution.” (C, 04:05)

• On Safety Mission:
  “That's our mission: to be the world's most trusted driver.” (C, 01:42)

• On Community Demand:
  “We're seeing organic campaigns spring up saying, ‘I want Waymo in my town’ ... it's been really exciting for us to see people demanding it.” (C, 11:30)

• On Human vs. Autonomous Safety:
  “We also determined in our human equivalent model that a human would not have been able to perform as our superhuman driver performed.” (C, 19:47)

• On Market Approach:
  “If you can see and smell and taste and touch and have all of your senses, why wouldn't you? ... especially with a safety critical function, we think it is very important.” (C, 23:48)

• On Regulatory Landscape:
  “You can't lead globally if it's a framework that's governed by multiple jurisdictions across the states. And it's a way to slow down the adoption of this technology.” (C, 10:02)

• On Global Competition:
  “We don't think there's anyone who's doing anything close to what we're doing. And so for us, it's just staying focused on our own ambitions.” (C, 17:43)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:36] – Start of interview, funding round and what it means
• [01:42] – Ride numbers, city launches, safety stats
• [03:03] – Challenges of scaling operations
• [04:05] – Investment allocation, hardware, new vehicle models
• [05:23] – Robotaxis at cultural events (Super Bowl, Grammys)
• [07:15] – Public company question; focus on London and Tokyo
• [08:15] – City launch process, building trust with regulators
• [10:02] – Federal AV framework, US vs. EU rules
• [11:10] – NYC-specific regulatory barriers and community demand
• [13:25] – UK/London welcoming AVs, market nuances
• [15:41] – Japan, usage of partnerships, cultural adaptation
• [17:43] – US/China tech race, Waymo’s unique leadership
• [19:47] – Santa Monica incident discussion
• [21:12] – School bus interactions, edge cases, safety software
• [23:04] – Redundant sensing vs. Tesla’s vision-only approach
• [25:30] – Metrics for success in 2026

Summary

This episode provides an in-depth look at Waymo’s growth trajectory, strategic vision, and safety-first operational philosophy. Tekedra Mawakana offers transparent answers across the domains of funding, regulation, partnerships, international expansion, technology, and performance metrics, all framed around the company’s mission to deploy safe, autonomous driving at global scale. It's an essential listen for anyone interested in the future of transportation, mobility, or autonomous technology.