Waymo has borrowed money for the first time. The Alphabet-owned autonomous-driving company said on Thursday it closed a $5 billion term loan, with PIMCO, Blackstone and Sixth Street acting as lead syndicated lenders. The syndicate also includes Capital Group, Loomis Sayles, T. Rowe Price, Apollo, Blue Owl, Diameter Capital Partners, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity Management & Research, HPS Investment Partners and Oaktree. Goldman Sachs was sole lead bookrunner. Bloomberg reported that Waymo upsized its debut private loan and priced it at 5.25 percentage points over a benchmark.

Until now Waymo had been funded by its parent and outside equity investors. In February it raised $16 billion in equity at a $126 billion valuation, led by Dragoneer, DST Global and Sequoia Capital, with Alphabet remaining majority investor. Earlier rounds brought in $5.6 billion in 2024, $2.5 billion in 2021 and $3.2 billion in 2020.

Waymo frames the debt as a step in its evolution into "a scaling commercial enterprise." It offers robotaxi rides in 15 markets and is testing in London and Tokyo, with plans to launch in both. The company says the financing strengthens its balance sheet and positions it to capitalise on demand as it expands.

Growth has also brought scrutiny. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation is examining Waymo robotaxis' behaviour around school buses, and opened a separate investigation after one of its vehicles struck a child near a school at about 6 mph, causing minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened its own investigation into repeated illegal passing of stopped school buses in at least two states.

The loan marks a shift for a company that, for years, treated capital as a research-and-scale expense rather than something to be financed like infrastructure — and a test of whether investors will treat autonomous ride-hailing as a utility-grade asset class.

Sources