As we have seen, 2026 is a year of rapid expansion at Waymo. The company keeps entering new markets and opening robotaxi service there, and now Dallas is the latest such place to join.
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Yep. No profits yet, but spending something like $100 billion.
Alphabet’s quiet $110B Waymo move blows up ‘other bets’ narrative
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/alphabets-quiet-110b-waymo-move-blows-up-other-bets-narrative
DB2
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Waymore is following the AI industry model. We don’t need no stinking profits!
On the last set of earnings reports Amazon, Microsoft and especially Alphabet reported substantial AI profits.
Waymo is an interesting bet. The upside is potentially huge. We’ll see if it pays off.
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When I bought GOOG I figured that Waymo (Waymore?) was basically thrown in as long-term, non-expiring call option.
DB2
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Maybe.
The financial structure of the data center build-out makes it especially vulnerable to a crash. The deals themselves are built on enormously complicated debt and equity schemes that involve circular financing. The hyperscalers are investing heavily in the same companies they are counting on to buy their computing power. It’s what economists call an interlocking liability structure. If their customers struggle to monetize their products, they will be hit extra hard — and so will their investors.
A year ago companies weren’t seeing any return.
And China’s AI is available at a fraction of the cost.
There has been some puffery surrounding AI. I would like to see a forensic inspection of all AI accounting books.
Zitron is probably the most prominent skeptic of the claims of AI firms and of their financing, and he gets a lot of criticism from the industry. Here he is arguing that much of what is happening is a hidden financial shell game. Is he right? Well, insiders at Anthropic, Nvidia, Google, and OpenAI know. They could disprove Zitron easily, if the data suggested he was wrong. But they don’t.
And a year ago:
The Federal Trade Commission has asked a federal court to stop Air AI from using allegedly deceptive claims about business growth, earnings potential, and refund guarantees to fleece small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The FTC alleges consumers, many of whom are small business owners, lose as much as $250,000 and are often left in debt after relying on Air AI’s false promises.
I’m sure the above force AI to modify the puffery around the AI story.
We’ll if this turns out to be dot.comm II