Waymo has sharply elevated its lobbying spending because it seeks to steer US regulators to clear a path for totally autonomous taxi providers, intensifying its battle with rival Uber over the way forward for robotaxis.
The Alphabet-owned firm spent greater than $1 million between April and June on lobbying the federal authorities, greater than double its outlay a 12 months earlier, in line with filings. That put Waymo’s spending near Uber’s and effectively forward of rivals together with Amazon’s Zoox and Tesla.
The rise in lobbying comes as Waymo and Uber push competing visions for the way forward for ride-hailing. Waymo desires a quicker route to completely driverless business providers, whereas Uber is advocating a staggered rollout wherein robotaxis function alongside human drivers.
