The robotaxi race is getting real, and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) (GOOG) subsidiary Waymo just showed everyone it's not messing around. The self-driving company is now handling 450,000 rides per week, according to investor letters that surfaced this week.

The Numbers Tell a Growth Story

Investment firm Tiger Global, which holds major stakes in both Waymo and OpenAI, shared the updated figures in a letter to investors while launching a new fund targeting $2.2 billion in capital, CNBC reported Monday. For context, Waymo was doing 250,000 weekly rides back in April. That's an 80% jump in roughly six months, which is the kind of growth that gets investors excited.

Waymo didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the figures.

Industry Watchers Take Notice

Ross Gerber, co-founder of investment firm Gerber Kawasaki, has been vocal about Waymo's lead in the autonomous vehicle space. "Waymo is well ahead in the robotaxi business and getting further by the week," Gerber said.

What makes this particularly noteworthy is that Waymo's robotaxis are now operating on highways without an onboard safety driver. That's a significant technical and regulatory milestone. Gerber also emphasized that autonomous vehicle advancements could have life-saving implications as the technology matures.

Tesla Enters the Chat

While Waymo racks up rides, Tesla Inc. (TSLA) is making its own moves in the robotaxi arena. The electric vehicle maker recently secured self-certification that would allow it to deploy autonomous vehicles commercially in certain states, clearing a key regulatory hurdle for its robotaxi ambitions.

The competition between Waymo's measured, geofenced approach and Tesla's vision-based Full Self-Driving system represents two fundamentally different philosophies about how to crack the autonomous driving problem. Waymo uses detailed mapping and multiple sensor types including lidar, while Tesla bets on cameras and neural networks.

Market Reaction

Price Action: GOOGL dropped 2.35% to $313.72 at market close, but climbed 0.20% during after-hours trading to $314.34, according to data from MarketDash.