Waymo is now serving over 200,000 paid trips in its robotaxis each week, Alphabet Inc. (GOOG  -0.63%) (GOOGL  -0.73%) CEO Sundar Pichai said on Thursday.

What Happened: "Exciting new Waymo milestone: Waymo One is now serving 200k+ paid trips each week across LA, Phoenix and SF - that's 20x growth in less than two years!," Pichai said in a post on social media platform X.

In late October, Waymo said that the company is now serving over 150,000 paid rides every week, implying that the company has added 50,000 rides per week in four months.

Waymo first started offering paid autonomous rides to members of the public in 2020 and currently operates its robotaxis in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

The company also plans to operate its robotaxis in Austin and Atlanta starting in 2025 as part of its partnership with Uber (UBER  1.65%).

In December, the company said that it would introduce its vehicle to streets in Miami in 2025 and launch ride-hail services to riders starting in 2026 via the Waymo One app.

Why It Matters: Waymo is currently the frontrunner in the field of autonomous vehicles in the U.S. While General Motors' (GM  1.37%) Cruise was at par with Waymo until 2023, it suspended all of its operations in the U.S. following the involvement of one of its robotaxis in an accident in San Francisco, and it subsequently ceased operations in late 2024.

EV giant Tesla Inc. (TSLA  -4.79%), meanwhile, is also looking to start an autonomous ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas in June.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk envisions deploying the company's Model Y and Model 3 vehicles equipped with the company's full self-driving (FSD) driver assistance technology in Austin. While FSD currently requires active driver supervision, Musk and Tesla are optimistic that it can enable autonomous driving in time.

Musk said earlier this month that the company will also roll out robotaxis to American cities beyond Austin before the end of the year.