Waymo is looking to roll back from its exclusive partnership with Uber due to customer response, according to Bloomberg. The robotaxi service began its collaboration with the rideshare app in 2023, starting in Phoenix, Arizona, and later expanded to other major cities like Austin and Atlanta.
The partnership allowed users to request a Waymo ride through the Uber app. However, this will change in January 2028, when Waymo will expand its own app service for those cities.
Waymo Co-Chief Executive Officer Tekedra Mawakana told Bloomberg that the company decided to make this change because riders who requested the robotaxi service in Austin and Atlanta had no guarantee of getting one. “In the early days, we would partner because we didn’t have the scale, and in that partnering, it was a little bit of a crapshoot. Will I get a Waymo? Will I not get a Waymo?” Mawakana said in a wide-ranging interview on The Circuit with Emily Chang.
The executive noted that growing demand from its customer base has allowed the company to focus on building a single app for the service. According to research compiled by Mary Meeker’s Bond venture capital firm, Waymo captured 27 percent of San Francisco’s rideshare market, which uses its own app for taxi hailing.
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Despite the end of the exclusive partnership, Uber will still keep the exclusive option in Austin and Atlanta to have users order Waymo’s from its app until the 2028 expiration date. Waymo has also partnered with other rideshare apps, like Lyft, which primarily focuses on Nashville.
Waymo currently operates 4,000 vehicles across 15 cities in the U.S., 80 percent of which are in California and Texas. The company aims to increase its total number of cars to 8,000 by the end of the year and grow to 20,000 by the end of 2027, according to a report from Semafor.
Waymo recently closed on a $5 billion term loan and a $16 billion equity investment this year. Waymo is currently valued at $126 billion. “Our goal is to bring the safety, reliability, and magic of the Waymo Driver to as many people as possible,” said Nicole Gavel, Senior Director, Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Waymo, in a press release.
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