Uber, Google plan to bring Waymo robotaxis to more cities
Google’s Waymo One autonomous ride-hailing service will expand in three cities in partnership with Uber.
Later this year, vehicles equipped with the Waymo Driver autonomous driving platform from Waymo, the Google autonomous vehicle subsidiary, will be available for ride-hailing by users of the Uber and Uber Eats apps in Phoenix. Currently, Uber Eats consumers in the Phoenix metro area may have their orders from select retailers delivered by an autonomous Waymo vehicle.
Consumers in Phoenix will also still be able to hail Waymo Driver autonomous vehicles via the Waymo One app. In addition, beginning in early 2025, Waymo and Uber will bring autonomous ride-hailing to Austin and Atlanta, only on the Uber app.
In these cities, Uber will manage and dispatch a fleet of Waymo’s fully autonomous, all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles. Riders who request an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric may be matched with a Waymo for qualifying trips. The companies expect the autonomous Waymo fleets in Austin and Atlanta will have hundreds of vehicles over time.
"We’re thrilled to build on our successful partnership with Waymo, which has already powered fully autonomous trips for tens of thousands of riders in Phoenix," said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. "Soon, riders in Austin and Atlanta will be able to experience that same mobility magic, through a new fleet of dedicated autonomous Waymo vehicles, available only on Uber."
Through this expanded partnership, Uber will provide fleet management services including vehicle cleaning, repair, and other general depot operations. Waymo will continue to be responsible for the testing and operation of the Waymo Driver platform, including roadside assistance and certain rider support functions.
"Waymo’s mission is to be the world’s most trusted driver, and we’re excited to launch this expanded network and operations partnership with Uber in Austin and Atlanta to bring the benefits of fully autonomous driving to more riders," said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO, Waymo.
"We’ve been delighted at the positive feedback from our Waymo One riders to date, and we can’t wait to bring the comfort, convenience, and safety of the Waymo Driver to these cities in partnership with Uber," Mawakana said.
Waymo has also been operating in San Francisco for years, scaling its Waymo One robotaxi service over time and carrying out tens of thousands of weekly trips. The company brought the program out of pilot in June 2024, enabling anyone in any part of San Francisco to hail a ride with a self-driving robotaxi provided by Waymo.
[READ MORE: Google pulls ahead of Amazon in robotaxi race]
Amazon competes with Waymo via Zoox
Waymo reached full service to a major city with its robotaxi service before Zoox, a competing autonomous ride hailing technology Amazon purchased in June 2020. Zoox is geographically expanding its successful 2023 pilot of a purpose-built self-driving robotaxi on open public roads in Foster City, Calif. with no manual controls or human safety driver.
Since that initial pilot in Foster City, Calif., Zoox has continued testing and developing its robotaxi technology in Foster City as well as in Las Vegas. As it prepares to offer autonomous robotaxi rides to consumers later in 2024, Zoox will soon begin testing in two new U.S. markets: Austin and Miami.
Austin and Miami will mark the fourth and fifth public testing locations for Zoox. The company started in its home city of San Francisco in 2018, expanded testing to Las Vegas in 2019, and then moved to Seattle in 2021.
Zoox is not yet deploying its purpose-built robotaxi or offering public rides in Austin or Miami. Target cities for its first commercial markets remain Las Vegas and San Francisco. However, the company says it is exploring several cities for future commercial offerings after initial launch.
