Uber has announced an expansion of its partnership with Alphabet’s Waymo to offer autonomous robotaxi services in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta beginning in early 2025. Concurrently, Uber’s stock increased by 5%, while Alphabet saw a 1% rise following the announcement.
In these new locations, Uber users will have the option to be matched with a driverless Waymo vehicle for certain trips, which can only be booked through the Uber app. This differs from San Francisco and Los Angeles, where rides must be booked through the Waymo app. Waymo indicated there are no current plans to integrate with Uber in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
This expansion occurs amid investor pressure on Uber to enhance its autonomous vehicle strategy, particularly as Tesla’s upcoming robotaxi event on October 10 approaches. Tesla’s announcement has preceded a 9% decline in Uber’s stock, which is also down 17% from its 52-week high.
The partnership is seen as a move to counter Waymo’s growing market share. Bernstein’s analysis showed that Waymo’s 50,000 weekly paid rides constituted roughly 2% of ride-sharing activity in San Francisco as of May 2024. Waymo has since reported it doubled its paid robotaxi trips to 100,000 weekly.
“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 Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. While the initial agreement in Phoenix included autonomous Uber Eats deliveries, the new expansion will initially focus solely on ride-hailing, with potential future plans to include Uber Eats.
Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana stated, “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.”
This development marks another step for Uber in navigating the robotaxi sector, following setbacks like selling its self-driving division in 2020. Uber now seeks to leverage partnerships with companies such as Waymo, GM’s Cruise, and the SoftBank-backed start-up Wayve.
Previously, Uber experienced a stock dip when it announced a multiyear partnership with GM’s Cruise to offer autonomous rides starting next year. Investor skepticism stemmed from Cruise’s safety issues, with discounted expectations for a more favorable partnership with Waymo.
Waymo continues to advance in the autonomous driving industry, currently operating robotaxi services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. The company has covered over 22 million miles and recently published a report asserting its vehicles’ safety over human drivers. It began testing driverless cars on Bay Area freeways with Google employees in August.
While some analysts hoped for a broader Uber-Waymo integration in San Francisco, the expansion into Atlanta and Austin, where Waymo already conducts tests, remains promising for the partnership.
— CNBC’s Laura Batchelor and Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
