Uber Loses Its Waymo Monopoly in Atlanta and Austin
Starting in 2028, driverless Waymo rides won't need an Uber app to book
By Barnaby "Bottom-Line" Coyne
For three years, if you wanted a robotaxi in Atlanta or Austin, you mostly needed Uber's app to get one. That arrangement is ending.
Uber and Waymo will wind down their exclusivity deal in both cities, CNBC reports, with Waymo's driverless rides becoming available on other platforms starting in 2028. Until now, Waymo's fleet in those two markets has been booked largely through Uber, a partnership that gave the ride-hailing giant a foothold in autonomous vehicles without having to build the technology itself.
That exclusivity was worth something to Uber — it meant Waymo's robotaxis showed up in one place, Uber's app, and nowhere else in those cities. Ending it opens the door for rivals, including Waymo's own standalone app, to compete for the same riders.
Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet, has been expanding city by city, and the loosening of this deal suggests the company is confident enough in its brand to go it alone rather than lean on Uber's customer base. For Uber, it's a reminder that partnerships with the companies actually building the driverless cars are, by nature, temporary. Uber doesn't own the technology under the hood — it owns the app on your phone, and apps are replaceable.
The timeline — 2028 — gives both companies years to prepare, and it's not yet clear what it will mean for drivers, fares, or which other platforms might get access. CNBC's report didn't specify. What's certain is that the era of one app, one city, one robotaxi fleet is closing, and Uber will have to compete on the merits, not the exclusivity.
— Compiled from reporting by CNBC.
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