Aug 6 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Waymo is

expanding its autonomous ride-hailing service areas in San

Francisco and Los Angeles to cater to growing demand from

customers, the company said on Tuesday.

The announcement comes as rivals such as General Motors ( GM )

and Amazon.com's ( AMZN ) Zoox are investing heavily in

driverless cars to drive commercial success, even as regulatory

scrutiny remains tight.

Waymo One service areas will extend to the San Francisco

Peninsula to add Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma. In Los Angeles,

the service will include Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Playa Vista

and parts of Hollywood, Chinatown and Westwood.

Alphabet has planned a $5 billion investment in Waymo over a

multi-year period, finance chief Ruth Porat said last month, as

the company looks to boost its self-driving unit's expansion

plans.

Waymo put an end to waiting lists in San Francisco last

month and opened up its Waymo One service to everyone, about

four years after a similar move in Phoenix, Arizona.

Several tech companies are betting big on the future of

autonomous driving systems amid concerns about growing

investments in the nascent technology, which is expensive and

can take years before generating significant revenue.

Uber ( UBER ) said on Tuesday trips by self-driving vehicles

on its platform were six times higher in the second quarter,

helped by partnerships with companies including Waymo for

ride-sharing and food delivery.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also been focusing on

artificial intelligence, autonomous driving software, robotaxis

and a humanoid robot named Optimus to combat a slowdown in EV

sales, which generate about 78% of the automaker's quarterly

revenue.