That came after a rocky start for the self-driving car industry domestically.

Following a decade of sizable venture investments in AV companies, Uber sold off its self-driving business in 2020 after a fatal collision, and two years later Ford abandoned its stake in its robotaxi developers Argo.AI. In 2023, Cruise paused all of its driverless operations after collisions led to investigations and a suspension of its licenses in California. When GM decided to retreat from the robotaxi business earlier this month, it had already poured $10 billion into Cruise.

Waymo may have outlasted Cruise to lead the U.S. market but domestic competitors are working to catch up, too -- most notably Elon Musk's automaker Tesla and Amazon-owned Zoox.