Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous driving subsidiary, is close to locking down more than $3 billion in unrated debt from a heavyweight trio of private credit lenders: Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO), Blackstone, and Sixth Street Partners. The deal, which Goldman Sachs is advising on, would mark the first time the robotaxi company has turned to debt markets after years of relying exclusively on equity funding.
The expected pricing tells a story all by itself: more than 500 basis points above the benchmark rate.
From equity darling to debt borrower
Back in February 2026, the company pulled in $16 billion in an equity round that valued it at $126 billion post-money. Waymo currently operates paid robotaxi services across 14 US cities, with a fleet of more than 4,000 vehicles completing over 500,000 paid rides per week. The company is targeting 1 million weekly rides by year-end.
All of that expansion is happening while Waymo runs negative EBITDA. The choice to go unrated is deliberate. Rated debt requires disclosures and credit agency scrutiny that Waymo may prefer to avoid at this stage. Unrated private credit offers flexibility, speed, and fewer public obligations. The tradeoff is cost, and at 500-plus basis points over benchmark, that cost is substantial.
The expansion math
On September 1, 2026, the company launched paid services in Denver, San Diego, and Tampa, bringing the total to 14 cities. The fleet itself has crossed the 4,000-vehicle threshold. Reaching the 1 million weekly rides target would effectively double current volume.
What the private credit bet reveals
The involvement of PIMCO, Blackstone, and Sixth Street is notable. These aren’t venture funds making a growth bet. They’re among the largest private credit players in the world, and their participation suggests they’ve underwritten Waymo’s cash flows carefully enough to stomach the risk.
The risk, of course, is that Waymo’s path to profitability takes longer than the debt maturity allows. A company burning cash and paying 500-plus basis points on $3 billion in debt needs to show meaningful progress toward positive unit economics.