"Waymo won't bankrupt Uber. If Uber loses, they will appeal. "

So? They'd almost certainly be forced to put up a very large bond to do that, assuming they can get it.

In some jurisdictions, this can be 100% of judgement + interest. IIRC, in the 9th circuit, it's at the discretion of district courts, but given the financial situation, if they did have a multi-billion judgement against them, and not a lot of runway, what makes you think a judge won't make them put up a full bond to appeal?

These cases actually often do bankrupt businesses, and the predatory lawsuit creditors take over (though usually that happens more in patent cases) :)