Fund manager and prominent tech analyst Gene Munster said Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Waymo is firmly in the lead against rival Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the U.S. robotaxi market, while noting that the race was still in its early stages, with plenty of time to close this gap.
Waymo’s 50 To 2 Lead Against Tesla
On Wednesday, in a post on X, Munster stated that Waymo is “out raising money” at a $110 billion post-money valuation, amid reports that the Alphabet-backed company was seeking to raise $15 billion.
Munster, the managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, added that if the competition between Waymo and Tesla were framed as a basketball game, “Waymo would be up 50–2,” while highlighting the stark contrast in their respective scales in a blog post.
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He noted that Waymo is operating a fully driverless commercial ride-hailing service across five U.S. cities with an estimated fleet of about 2,500 vehicles, delivering roughly 450,000 paid rides per week.
Tesla’s Robotaxi program, by comparison, is running an estimated 50 vehicles, largely in supervised mode, in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, with weekly rides estimated in the low thousands.
According to Munster, Waymo’s progress accelerated in 2025 as it moved from pilot programs into a scaling phase, surpassing 150 million fully autonomous miles driven and expanding service areas to include freeways and airport access in several markets.
Waymo is no longer asking whether the technology works, he said, but was instead focusing on “how big can this be” and “how efficient can we make it.”
Tesla’s ‘Poised’ To Make A Run
Munster, however, noted that the race was still in its early stages, with Tesla “poised to make a run” as it overcomes technical and regulatory hurdles.
Munster emphasized that regulatory approval is the primary obstacle for Tesla’s Robotaxi ambitions. He wrote that if the company’s ongoing test of vehicles operating without a safety driver in Austin goes well, “the path to turning on new cities will be easy.”
TSLA Vs. GOOG: On Thursday, Tesla shares closed at $467.26, dropping 4.62% during the day, and are up 0.85% overnight, while shares of Alphabet were down 3.14%, closing at $298.06, and up 0.42% overnight. Check out more here.
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Image via Shutterstock/ Sundry Photography
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