Waymo’s co-CEO, Tekedra Mawakana, delivered a clear message during her interview on the TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 stage on Monday. She stated, “It is imperative that we scale.” Mawakana was discussing how Waymo balances fundraising and spending with its goal of achieving profitability. She was also clear in her belief that reaching a larger scale will enable Waymo to increase road safety.
This focus on expansion explains the company’s aggressive growth plans for this year. Waymo expects to launch its services in many more U.S. cities, including D.C., Miami, Denver, Dallas, Seattle, and Nashville, as well as in London in 2026. This rapid pace has involved the autonomous vehicle company forming multiple partnerships with firms like Uber, Lyft, and Avis. Mawakana set a specific goal, saying, “By the end of 2026, you should expect us to be offering 1 million trips per week.”
During the interview, Mawakana spent considerable time talking about the challenges of safely achieving that kind of scale. The Waymo co-CEO maintained that the company is already operating at a safety level that exceeds that of the typical human driver. While not naming specific competitors, she suggested that others are not doing enough to prove their autonomous vehicle technology is truly safe. She emphasized that it is incumbent upon them to be transparent about their operations, adding that a lack of transparency means a company is not earning the right to make roads safer.
Her comments come as Waymo continues to address complex situations during its expansion. One recent incident occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, where a Waymo vehicle pulled out in front of a stopped school bus, leading to an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Despite such events, Waymo itself recently released a report claiming its vehicles are five times safer than most human drivers and twelve times safer with respect to pedestrians.
Waymo vehicles have been observed making some confusing decisions. Mawakana acknowledged this, stating that while perfection is not the expectation, accountability and transparency are essential. She said the company plans for such events, worrying not if they will happen, but when they will happen.
Mawakana also clarified that Waymo does not think in terms of how many incidents are allowable. She explained that the company knows incidents will occur because its cars share the road with human drivers, and the current state of road safety involves many deaths and injuries. When asked if the public would accept a death caused by a robotaxi given the promise of greater overall safety, Mawakana expressed her belief that society will.