Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving unit, announced on Friday the successful closure of a $5.6 billion funding round led by its parent company, Google. This significant investment aims to bolster Waymo's autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo One, as it seeks to expand its reach in major U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta.

The funding round attracted participation from several existing investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price. This influx of capital comes at a time when automakers and technology firms are eager to capitalize on the potential of autonomous ride-hailing services, despite facing skepticism and stringent regulatory oversight.

Waymo expressed its intent to welcome more riders into its service, leveraging the recent investment to enhance operations. The company has already begun offering paid rides in autonomous vehicles across the Bay Area and Los Angeles, as well as in Phoenix, Arizona. It took years of extensive testing and millions of logged miles before Waymo secured its first permit from the California Public Utilities Commission in 2022 to operate its ride-hailing service.

In the broader context of the autonomous vehicle industry, Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently announced plans for the rollout of driverless ride-hailing services in California and Texas next year. Meanwhile, General Motors' Cruise is cautiously testing cars with human safety drivers following a previous accident, and Amazon's Zoox is advancing testing for vehicles designed without traditional steering wheels and pedals.