Waymo upsizes its first debt deal to $5 billion to fund global expansion

Waymo has borrowed its way into a new chapter. Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit announced on October 6, 2026, that it upsized its inaugural private debt financing to $5 billion, up from an initial estimate of more than $3 billion. The money is earmarked for fleet expansion and rising AI and compute costs. That timing makes sense, because Waymo is trying to grow from a US robotaxi operator into a global one. The details of the deal Goldman Sachs arranged the financing. The lender list reads like a who’s who of private credit: Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO), Blackstone Inc., and Sixth Street Partners all participated. The loan is unrated. Put plainly, no credit rating agency has stamped a grade on it, so lenders are relying on their own homework about Waymo’s ability to pay them back. Pricing is set at 5.25 percentage points above the benchmark rate. The upsizing itself is the headline number. Going from a target above $3 billion to a final $5 billion suggests there was more lender appetite than Waymo initially planned to tap, and the company was happy to take it. From equity darling to borrower Waymo has historically funded itself with equity. In February 2026, it close...