Waymo confirms it’s shaking up its Uber relationship in January 2028

In Brief

Waymo will end its exclusivity with Uber in the Austin and Atlanta markets starting in January 2028, co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana told Bloomberg News in a report published Wednesday.

The robotaxi company will offer rides directly through its own smartphone app, like it does in other cities. Uber confirmed to TechCrunch Wednesday that it still plans to host Waymo robotaxis on its app for as long as the two companies agree. Waymo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mawakana’s comments come after reporting earlier this year by the Financial Times that Waymo was looking to get out of its deal with Uber, which was set to expire in May 2028. Mawakana told Bloomberg that Waymo initially partnered with Uber because the ride-hail giant offered scale. But the experience for riders has been “a little bit of a crapshoot,” she said, especially because riders never know for sure if they’re going to hail a robotaxi or a human-driven car.

“It’s important for us to have that relationship with the rider. We’ve gotten that feedback from the riders in those markets,” Mawakana said.

Uber — which has many robotaxi and other autonomous vehicle partners — told Bloomberg that it was Waymo’s idea not to add an option in the ride-hail giant’s app to book a robotaxi directly.

This story has been updated with new information from Uber, and to correct that Mawakana’s comments were about the exclusivity.

Related