Waymo robotaxis coming to Uber app with new partnership

Abner Li | May 23 2023 - 7:49 am PT

After a big lawsuit several years ago, Uber is partnering with Waymo to add robotaxis to its ride hailing app.

Waymo and Uber today announced a multi-year strategic partnership to “make the Waymo Driver available to more people via the Uber platform.” This has been telegraphed for quite some time.

This is starting in the recently expanded Phoenix service area (180 square miles) where Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are already operational. “Later this year,” a “set number of Waymo vehicles ” will appear in the Uber app for trips, as well as Uber Eats for deliveries.

Waymo One, which is the company’s in-house competitor, will remain available to directly hail a ride.

“We’re excited to offer another way for people to experience the enjoyable and life-saving benefits of full autonomy,” said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo. “Uber has long been a leader in human-operated ridesharing, and the pairing of our pioneering technology and all-electric fleet with their customer network provides Waymo with an opportunity to reach even more people.”

“Uber provides access to a global and reliable marketplace across mobility, delivery, and freight,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. “Fully autonomous driving is quickly becoming part of everyday life, and we’re excited to bring Waymo’s incredible technology to the Uber platform.”

Uber has a wide, established network of vehicles and is naturally already established nation-wide. It will be interesting to see how the partnership continues as Waymo becomes operational in other cities, like San Francisco and Los Angeles. Waymo One will still presumably be the first place you can hail the robotaxi, but Uber will likely come soon after.