Waymo indeed plans to grow its robotaxi fleet from the current 4,000 vehicles to 8,000 by the end of this year, and then to 20,000 next year.
The company is financing this expansion with a $5 billion loan, which it secured without guarantees from its parent company, Alphabet. The goal, of course, is to expand both in the US and internationally.
Waymo recently raised debt for the first time, and it came without guarantees from Alphabet, its parent company. It borrowed the $5 billion from private credit lenders, and the deal allows the company to use its fleet in the future to borrow more by securitizing leases.