Preferred Networks vs Waymo

Waymo has a disclosed valuation of $126B, while Preferred Networks's valuation is not publicly available, making a direct size comparison difficult. Waymo employs 3500 people.

Waymo has raised more in total funding at $27.1B, compared to Preferred Networks's $308M — a gap of $26.8B. Combined, the two companies have completed 7 known funding rounds.

Waymo leads with an Awaira Score of 96/100, while Preferred Networks sits at 72/100. That 24-point gap reflects real differences in funding, scale, and traction — it's not a vanity metric.

Preferred Networks was founded by Toru Nishikawa in 2014. Waymo was founded by Sebastian Thrun in 2009. Visit each company's profile on Awaira for a full founder biography.

Preferred Networks: Preferred Networks develops deep learning technology applied to robotics, autonomous driving, and industrial applications, building neural network architectures for real-time edge inference in robot control, factory automation, and connected vehicle systems. The Tokyo company gained international recognition for early competition victories in autonomous navigation and robot manipulation challenges and developed its own deep learning framework, Chainer, which influenced the design of PyTorch before Chainer was eventually retired.\n\nThe company raised approximately $350 million including a landmark $105 million Series A from Toyota Motor Corporation and other strategic investors, making it one of the most valuable AI startups in Japan at the time of its fundraising. Preferred Networks collaborates with Toyota on autonomous driving AI, with NTT on communications AI, and with Fanuc on factory robot intelligence, creating a portfolio of deep technology industrial partnerships that provide both funding and deployment scale for its AI research.\n\nPreferred Networks operates in Japan industrial AI market where established relationships with major manufacturing and automotive companies provide a defensible position that international AI startups find difficult to penetrate through conventional sales approaches. The company research focus on edge AI inference for robotics aligns with Japan competitive strengths in manufacturing automation and precision robotics, markets where AI-enhanced robot intelligence is being adopted to address labour shortages and quality requirements that purely mechanical automation cannot satisfy. Waymo: Waymo is an autonomous vehicle company founded in 2009 as Google's self-driving car project before becoming an independent Alphabet subsidiary. The company develops full-stack autonomous driving technology, including perception systems, planning algorithms, and simulation platforms that enable vehicles to operate without human drivers. Waymo's core offering centers on autonomous ride-hailing services and commercial trucking solutions. Its Waymo Driver technology stack processes sensor data from lidar, radar, and cameras to navigate complex environments. The company operates Waymo One, a commercial robotaxi service in Phoenix and San Francisco, serving thousands of regular passengers. Waymo has also launched Waymo Via, focusing on autonomous freight and logistics. With $27.1 billion in total funding and a $126 billion valuation, Waymo maintains significant financial backing from Alphabet and external investors. The company competes directly with Tesla, Cruise, Aurora, and traditional automotive manufacturers developing autonomous capabilities. Waymo's competitive advantages include extensive real-world testing data, Google's computational resources, and established operational services generating continuous learning. The company has achieved notable milestones including driverless taxi operations without safety drivers in urban environments and partnerships with established fleet operators. Growth trajectory focuses on geographic expansion of ride-hailing services and scaling autonomous freight operations across North America. Waymo operates the only commercially deployed, fully autonomous ride-hailing service at meaningful scale in the United States.

Waymo got there first, launching in 2009 — that's 5 years of extra runway. Preferred Networks didn't arrive until 2014. In AI, that kind of head start means more training data, deeper customer relationships, and a bigger talent moat.

Preferred Networks has about 100-500 employees; Waymo has about 3500. A bigger team usually means more revenue or heavier VC backing, but in AI, small teams can build at massive scale.

Yes — they're direct rivals. Both Preferred Networks and Waymo compete in AI Robotics, targeting many of the same buyers. If you're evaluating one, you should be looking at the other.