Following its first outside funding round, investors in the Alphabet self-driving-car unit pressed the firm to expand its Phoenix-based operations into San Francisco, where it could focus more on growing the business. (The Information)

Talking point: The company’s backers include Canada’s CPP Investments and Magna International, as well as Silver Lake and Tiger Global, among others. (The Information did not say which investors pressed the firm on the expansion.) Together, they’ve funnelled more than US$5 billion into the 12-year-old company since May 2020, according to PitchBook. Waymo has had autonomous cars in the Bay Area since last November. According to The Information, an impetus for pushing into San Francisco was competition from rival Cruise, which was already focused on the market. Shortly before his departure in April, Waymo’s former CEO John Krafcik explained that rolling out driverless cars is an “extraordinary grind.” Meanwhile, CPP Investments is also wading into electric vehicles, a less risky car technology. On Wednesday, EV firm Turntide Technologies announced a US$225-million investment from backers including the Canadian pension fund.