Nov 12 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Waymo said on

Tuesday its autonomous ride-hailing service, Waymo One, is now

available to everyone in Los Angeles, a sign of rapid growth and

adoption of the technology.

Waymo had closed a $5.6 billion funding round last month, as

automakers and technology companies are betting big on the

driverless technology to foster future growth, even as it faces

tight regulatory scrutiny.

The company said nearly 300,000 people had joined its

waitlist after it started commercial operations in the city

earlier this year, signaling strong demand.

Waymo had opened access to its ride-hailing service to

everyone in San Francisco in June this year and Phoenix, Arizona

in 2020.

"Our service has matured quickly and our riders are

embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving," said

Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO, Waymo.

Mountain View, California-based Waymo is a self-driving

technology pioneer, which started its first U.S. driverless taxi

service in 2020 over a decade after it was born as a project

within Google.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in October that the

electric vehicle maker will roll out driverless ride-hailing

services to the public in California and Texas next year,

indicating a growing competition in the autonomous ride-hailing

space.

Rival General Motors' ( GM ) Cruise is testing cars with

human safety drivers after an accident last year led it to pull

all vehicles from the road. Meanwhile, Amazon's ( AMZN ) Zoox is

expanding testing for its vehicles built without steering wheels

and pedals.