Mubadala invests in Waymo
The source: The National
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company joined a consortium that will invest $2.25 billion (Dh8.26bn) in Waymo, the self-driving technology company owned by Google’s parent Alphabet.
Other investors in the consortium include the US private equity company Silver Lake, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, automotive supplier Magna International, and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Mubadala said on Tuesday.
“Mubadala has built a strong portfolio of technology companies that are transforming sectors that are large, significant, and global,” said Waleed Al Muhairi, Mubadala’s deputy group chief executive and chief executive of alternative investments and infrastructure.
“The partnership with Alphabet, and the investment in Waymo, is aligned with our thesis in the transformation of mobility and transportation via autonomous technologies. In addition to partnering with one of the world’s leading technology companies, this is about investing in and backing one of the strongest management and technical teams in the industry."
Waymo’s vehicles have now self-driven more than 20 million miles on public roads across at least 25 cities, and over 10 billion miles in simulation, Mubadala said. Waymo’s factory in Detroit also shipped its first vehicles, including electric cars and Class 8 trucks integrated with the fifth-generation of hardware that has more powerful computing and more capable sensing.
