Dec 5 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Waymo said on

Thursday it will expand its autonomous ride-hailing services to

Miami, Florida, adding another city to its operations as it

seeks to gain an edge in an increasingly competitive market.

The company plans to introduce its vehicles to Miami's

streets early next year and aims to launch services to riders in

2026, offering ride-hailing through the Waymo One app.

Waymo's expansion comes at a crucial time as the firm is

under intense scrutiny from safety regulators following multiple

incidents involving autonomous driving technology.

Intense competition in the autonomous vehicle market,

particularly from General Motors' ( GM ) Cruise, Amazon's ( AMZN ) Zoox

and

newcomer Tesla

presents a significant challenge to Waymo's

efforts to establish and maintain market dominance in the

rapidly evolving self-driving technology sector.

Miami will join Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and

Austin as cities in which Waymo operates.

Waymo also announced a partnership with vehicle financing

firm Moove under which the startup will manage Waymo's fleet

operations, facilities and charging infrastructure, starting in

Phoenix, Arizona.

Last month, the company opened its ride-hailing services to

everyone in Los Angeles, and in Oct. it closed a $5.6 billion

funding round led by Alphabet.