Waymo now operates more than 400,000 paid robotaxi rides per week across six US cities, while Baidu's Apollo Go completed 3.4 million fully driverless rides in a single quarter across 26 cities worldwide. Tesla's Austin robotaxi service still relies on human safety monitoring, and General Motors abandoned its Cruise robotaxi unit after investing more than $10 billion.
What scale have Waymo and Baidu already reached in commercial robotaxi operations?
Waymo and Baidu have each moved robotaxi service into large, revenue-generating operation with figures to show for it.
Waymo, owned by Alphabet, disclosed in February 2026 that it provides more than 400,000 paid rides per week across six US metro areas, with more than 20 million lifetime rides completed and 127 million fully autonomous miles driven CITE:E1. In the same month, Waymo closed a $16 billion funding round at a post-money valuation of $126 billion CITE:E1.
Baidu's Apollo Go (蘿蔔快跑) completed 3.4 million fully driverless rides in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, with weekly ride volume peaking above 300,000 during the quarter — a roughly 200% year-over-year increase CITE:E2. Apollo Go has provided more than 20 million cumulative public rides, operates in 26 cities worldwide, and has logged more than 300 million cumulative autonomous kilometers CITE:E2.
| Metric | Waymo | Baidu Apollo Go |
|---|
| Weekly rides | 400,000+ (as of Feb 2026) | 300,000+ peak (Q4 2025) |
| Single-quarter rides | N/A | 3.4 million (Q4 2025) |
| Cumulative rides | 20 million+ | 20 million+ |
| Cities served | 6 (US) | 26 (global) |
| Autonomous distance | 127 million miles (cumulative) | 300 million+ km (cumulative) |
| Latest funding/valuation | $16B raised, $126B post-money valuation (Feb 2026) | N/A |
Why hasn't Tesla achieved fully driverless operation yet — technology path and safety-monitor deployment?
Tesla's robotaxi service in Austin is still not fully driverless, and it runs on a different sensor approach than Waymo's.
Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin in June 2025 with an in-car safety monitor present in every vehicle CITE:E3. In January 2026, Tesla removed the in-car monitor from some vehicles, but only by relocating that role to a trailing "chase car" that follows the robotaxi — and only a small number of vehicles operate this way, so the service cannot be described as fully driverless CITE:E3.
Underlying the gap is a difference in sensor architecture: Tesla relies entirely on cameras under its "Tesla Vision" system, having removed radar in 2021 and ultrasonic sensors in 2022, while Waymo uses a sensor-fusion stack combining lidar, radar, and cameras CITE:E4.
Who has already dropped out of the robotaxi race, and at what cost?
General Motors (GM) walked away from Cruise's robotaxi business after spending more than $10 billion.
GM announced in December 2024 that it would stop funding Cruise's robotaxi operations and fold the unit's technology back into driver-assist development CITE:E5. GM had invested more than $10 billion in Cruise since acquiring the company in 2016 CITE:E5. In February 2025, Cruise cut about half of its staff CITE:E5.
How does Waymo's safety data support its regulatory and public case?
Waymo's own safety report gives it a numerical case for continued expansion.
Waymo's safety report, covering data through March 2026 across 220.6 million rider-only miles, states that its vehicles were involved in 94% fewer crashes involving serious injury or worse compared with a human-driving benchmark, and 82% fewer crashes involving airbag deployment CITE:E6.
What this means
Waymo's 400,000 weekly rides and Baidu's 3.4 million rides in a single quarter show that robotaxi service has already crossed into large-scale, recurring operation in both the US and China CITE:E1CITE:E2. Waymo pairs that scale with a safety report spanning 220.6 million rider-only miles and a $126 billion valuation, giving it a data-backed case for further expansion CITE:E1CITE:E6. Tesla's January 2026 shift to a chase-car arrangement, covering only a small number of vehicles, and its camera-only sensor architecture stand in contrast to both companies' multi-sensor, monitor-free operations at scale CITE:E3CITE:E4. GM's exit from Cruise after more than $10 billion in investment is a reminder that reaching this scale has already proven too costly for at least one competitor CITE:E5.