A spokesperson for Waymo confirmed to Business Insider that ... He was an early angel investor in Cruise, the robotaxi company founded in 2013 and acquired by General Motors three years later.

Waymo helped TechCrunch coordinate a robotaxi ride. And that was fine and all, but we wanted an experience that was less orchestrated. We got lucky Thursday morning and were matched.

Waymo once faced competition from Cruise, a driverless taxi company founded in 2013, but the company was effectively shut down last month when its owner, General Motors, said it would stop ...