Waymo Buys Apple's Self-Driving Test Track For $220 Million

Apple spent billions trying to build a car, then walked away in 2024. Now Waymo has bought the track where Apple tested those cars.

The price was $220 million.

From Apple's Failed Bet To Waymo's Engine

The site is a 5,500-acre proving ground near Wittman, Arizona. Apple bought it in 2021 for $125 million.

Back then, Apple was still chasing its car dream. That dream, called Project Titan, was shut down in early 2024.

Waymo paid $220 million for the same land. The deal was recorded in county filings on June 5.

Waymo confirmed the purchase, which the Phoenix Business Journal first spotted in county records.

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Why Apple Owned It

The track wasn't built for Apple. Carmaker Fiat Chrysler used it first to test cars in hot weather.

Apple rented it for years, then bought it in 2021. It tested prototype cars there while it tried to build its own.

That bet never paid off. Apple spent billions on the car before it pulled the plug.

What Waymo Is Buying

This isn't a vacant lot. The grounds include a fake city course, a four-mile oval, and a freeway built for testing self-driving cars.

Waymo is owned by Google parent Alphabet. It says it will use the site to run driving tests in a safe, closed setting.

The space lets it train its system far from public roads. Waymo already has tracks in California and Ohio, but both are smaller than this one.

Apple had used these same grounds for its own car tests. Now those roads will train robotaxis instead.

A Robotaxi Land Grab

Waymo is scaling up fast. Its fleet is near 4,000 vehicles, and it wants to build tens of thousands of robotaxis a year.

Those cars come from Zeekr and Hyundai. The new vans get sent to Waymo's Arizona factory, where crews fit them with its self-driving gear.

That push is reshaping the wider auto industry. Waymo started testing in Chandler, near Phoenix, back in 2017.

It now runs in more than 10 US cities, including Los Angeles, Austin, and Atlanta. Buying a giant test track fits a firm trying to grow, not slow down.

What The Deal Signals

The sale shows how the self-driving race has narrowed. One firm quit, and a rival that is still spending bought its assets.

Apple's site had sat quiet since it dropped the car. Now it gets a second life under Waymo.

Apple's car effort burned billions before it ended. Waymo, by contrast, keeps pouring money into growth.

For Waymo, the math is simple. More test space means more cars on the road sooner.

Worth Noting

Apple's car never made it to the road. Its old test track will now help Waymo's robotaxis stay on it.

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