Waymo vs 1X Technologies

By valuation, Waymo is the larger company at $126B versus $820M — a 153.7x difference. Size can also be measured by team: Waymo employs 3500 people while 1X Technologies has 150 employees.

Waymo has raised more in total funding at $27.1B, compared to 1X Technologies's $137M — a gap of $27B. Combined, the two companies have completed 7 known funding rounds.

Waymo leads with an Awaira Score of 96/100, while 1X Technologies sits at 82/100. That 14-point gap reflects real differences in funding, scale, and traction — it's not a vanity metric.

Waymo was founded by Sebastian Thrun in 2009. 1X Technologies was founded by Bernt Bornich in 2014. Visit each company's profile on Awaira for a full founder biography.

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. 1X Technologies: 1X Technologies is a Norwegian robotics company founded in 2014 that develops humanoid robots designed for physical automation tasks, backed by investors including the OpenAI Startup Fund and Tiger Global. 1X focuses on creating general-purpose humanoid robots equipped with advanced AI capabilities to perform dangerous, repetitive, or physically demanding work across industrial and service sectors. The company's primary product line centers on bipedal robots with dexterous manipulation capabilities, combining mechanical engineering with machine learning to enable autonomous task execution. The robots are designed to navigate real-world environments and adapt to varied operational scenarios. 1X Technologies positions itself in the emerging humanoid robotics segment alongside competitors like Tesla's Optimus and Boston Dynamics. The company emphasizes practical deployment over theoretical research, targeting near-term commercial applications in logistics, manufacturing, and facility management. Key technical differentiators include proprietary control systems and embodied AI approaches that enable robots to learn from experience. The robotics sector has attracted substantial venture capital investment, reflecting investor confidence in the humanoid robot market potential. The company's growth trajectory reflects increasing market interest in physical automation solutions, though commercial deployment at scale remains in early stages across the industry. 1X Technologies combines humanoid robot hardware with embodied AI to create commercially-focused autonomous workers for industrial applications.

Waymo got there first, launching in 2009 — that's 5 years of extra runway. 1X Technologies didn't arrive until 2014. In AI, that kind of head start means more training data, deeper customer relationships, and a bigger talent moat.

Waymo has about 3500 employees; 1X Technologies has about 150. 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 Waymo and 1X Technologies compete in AI Robotics, targeting many of the same buyers. If you're evaluating one, you should be looking at the other.