On May 15, 2024, a Waymo self-driving Jaguar electric vehicle was parked at an EVgo charging station in Los Angeles, California.
Patrick T. Fallon AFP | Getty Images
Uber Announced on Friday to expand the alphabetical Waymo will offer robotaxi services in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta starting in early 2025.
Uber riders in these cities can be matched with self-driving Waymo vehicles on certain trips, according to the companies. These rides are only available through Uber’s app, unlike riders in San Francisco and Los Angeles who book through the Waymo app. A Waymo spokesperson said it has no plans to partner with Uber in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The expansion comes as Uber faces pressure from investors to strengthen its self-driving car strategy, especially in TeslaUber shares have fallen 9% since the Tesla event was announced and are down 17% from their 52-week high.
It could also slow Waymo’s erosion of Uber’s market share. An analysis by Bernstein estimates that Waymo’s 50,000 weekly paid rides represent about 2% of ride-sharing usage in San Francisco as of May 2024. Since then, Waymo has announced that it has doubled the number of paid robotaxi rides to 100,000 per week.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a press release: “We are pleased to have a successful partnership with Waymo, which has already provided fully self-driving rides to tens of thousands of passengers in Phoenix.
Uber’s preliminary deal with Waymo in Phoenix also includes offering Uber Eats autonomous delivery services in the city. A Waymo spokesperson said the expansion to Austin and Atlanta will not initially include Uber Eats, but they are exploring the possibility in the future.
“We’re extremely pleased with the positive feedback from Waymo One riders so far, and we can’t wait to work with our partners to bring the comfort, convenience and safety of Waymo Driver to these cities with Uber,” said Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana.
Uber’s expansion into two more cities after struggling to gain a foothold and selling its self-driving unit in 2020 is another step into the robotaxi space, which currently relies on partnerships with companies such as Waymo. General MotorsCruise and Softbank– Supported UK startup Wayve makes progress.
Uber shares fell in August after the company announced a multi-year partnership with Cruise to offer self-driving rides through its app next year. Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski sees Cruise’s previous safety challenges as part of investor skepticism and now hopes of partnering with Waymo.
Waymo has made rapid progress in the self-driving race. The company currently offers robo-taxi services to the public in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. The company has driven more than 22 million miles as of June this year, and last week it released a report saying its vehicles are safer than human drivers. In August, it began testing self-driving cars on Bay Area highways with Google employees.
Some analysts are more hopeful about the possibility of Uber and Waymo expanding to San Francisco. But Atlanta and Austin, where Waymo has already begun testing, may still boost sentiment.
— CNBC’s Laura Batchelor and Lora Kolodny contributed to this article.
