Waymo Plans to End Uber Exclusivity in Austin and Atlanta, Launching Its Own App by January 2028

A fracturing partnership

Waymo has notified Uber that it plans to launch its own robotaxi app in Austin and Atlanta in January 2028, ending the exclusivity arrangement that has kept its vehicles available only through Uber in those two cities. An Uber spokesperson confirmed the notice to CNBC and Bloomberg on Friday, adding that the change would also free Uber to bring other autonomous vehicle providers onto its platform in those markets. The existing contract keeps Waymo's current fleet on the Uber app through at least May 2028, so riders will see no immediate change. But the move formalizes a drift that has been visible for months: Waymo has not announced a single new Uber city since launching the Atlanta service in June 2025, choosing instead to expand through its own app into six additional markets. The two companies already parted ways in Phoenix last month after a nearly three-year partnership there.

Mounting safety and service complaints

Tensions have escalated on multiple fronts. Uber has grown frustrated with what it described as unsustainable economics, persistent safety problems, and a failure by Waymo to be forthcoming about incidents, according to Bloomberg. Those include robotaxis driving into flooded roads despite a software recall, illegally passing school buses in Austin, and dozens of empty vehicles circling a cul-de-sac in Atlanta in May 2026. Waymo blamed that incident on Uber's routing. Uber said it learned about the school bus incidents through media reports rather than through the companies' own reporting channels. Waymo, meanwhile, has questioned the cleanliness and routing of vehicles managed through Uber's fleet partner Avomo. Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli posted a video earlier this year of what he thought was unsafe and "scary" behavior by a Waymo robotaxi, and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi lightly criticized robotaxi behavior in school zones and emergency situations during an earnings call without naming the company.

The two companies were pursuing diverging objectives.

Waymo's growing leverage

Waymo now operates in 11 US metro areas without Uber, delivering more than 500,000 paid rides per week. Its fleet exceeds 3,800 vehicles across ten cities, and in February it raised $16 billion at a $126 billion valuation to fund expansion. In San Francisco, the company has been eroding Uber's market share. Lyft CEO David Risher captured the dynamic last November when he called his company's own Waymo deal a "situationship," acknowledging that Waymo holds the leverage because it controls the vehicles, the software, and increasingly the rider relationship.

Uber's response and what comes next

A break-up would dent Uber's autonomous ambitions. The company has committed more than $10 billion over the past year through equity stakes and fleet agreements with alternative partners, including Avride, Nuro, and a deal worth more than a billion dollars for up to 50,000 Rivian-built robotaxis. But none of those partners operate at anything close to Waymo's scale, and several will not have vehicles on the road for years. Uber shares fell more than 4 percent on Friday to close below $66, their lowest level in more than a year, extending a year-to-date slide of more than 16 percent partly driven by investor fears that the company will be overtaken by autonomous vehicle providers.

Waymo has notified us that it plans to offer robotaxis on its own app in Austin and Atlanta starting in January 2028 and alongside the existing offering.

Timeline of the Waymo-Uber relationship

The contract covering Austin and Atlanta runs through May 2028, leaving a window for further negotiation. But with both companies lobbying for robotaxi legislation that benefits their own business and publicly trading complaints, the partnership appears to be unraveling.