Waymo rides are up

Alphabet reported Thursday that Waymo, its autonomous vehicle unit, is now delivering more than 250,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the U.S.

That figure is up from 200,000 in February, before Waymo opened in Austin and expanded in the San Francisco Bay Area in March.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Waymo is building partnerships with ride-hailing app Uber, automakers and operations and maintenance businesses that tend to its vehicle fleets.

Waymo, which is part of Alphabet’s Other Bets segment, is already running its commercial, driverless ride-hailing services in the San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin regions.

Earlier this month, Waymo and its partner Uber, began allowing interested riders to sign up to try the robotaxi service in Atlanta when it opens this summer.