Waymo Snaps Up Apple’s Abandoned Arizona Test Track for $220 Million

Waymo has closed on a massive acquisition: a 5,500-acre proving ground in Wittman, Arizona, previously owned by a shell company linked to Apple. The Alphabet subsidiary paid $220 million for the facility, according to Maricopa County records filed June 5. Waymo confirmed the deal to TechCrunch.

The site—once part of Apple’s ill-fated Project Titan—includes a 115-acre city course, a 35-acre vehicle dynamics area, a four-mile oval track, and a freeway segment built specifically for autonomous vehicle testing. Apple originally bought the property in 2021 for $125 million after years of leasing it from Fiat Chrysler, which used it for hot-weather testing. Apple poured billions into its self-driving car effort before pulling the plug earlier this year.

For Waymo, the purchase plugs into an already extensive network of closed courses, including the Castle Proving Ground in California and the Transportation Research Center in Ohio—both dwarfed by the Arizona site. A Waymo spokesperson said the facility will support rider-only testing, motion control tests, operational training workflows, and future expansion.

The move comes as Waymo accelerates fleet growth, now approaching 4,000 vehicles. The company recently began offering rides in its new Zeekr van and has outlined plans to produce tens of thousands of robotaxis annually, including the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Zeekr vehicles are outfitted with Waymo’s self-driving system at a factory in Arizona—a state where Waymo launched its first commercial robotaxi service back in 2017. Today, the company operates in over ten U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, and Atlanta.