Waymo and Uber have quietly ended their robotaxi partnership in Phoenix, Arizona, closing out a nearly three-year collaboration that was the only U.S. market where the two companies worked together directly. Both confirmed the split to TechCrunch, which first reported the change after riders noticed Waymo vehicles disappearing from the Uber app.
A Pilot That Paved the Way
Waymo said the wind-down actually happened in May, and that the dozen-plus vehicles Uber had used for the program have already been folded back into Waymo's own Phoenix fleet. Riders can still hail them through the Waymo app, including its public-transit integration with Via and deliveries with DoorDash. Both companies framed Phoenix as a successful proving ground rather than a falling-out, with Uber calling it "an intentionally limited deployment" that helped it scale faster elsewhere.
Diverging Robotaxi Strategies
The breakup lands as the two firms increasingly chart their own courses. Waymo's vehicles remain available on Uber in Austin and Atlanta, where hundreds of cars operate exclusively through the ride-hailing app. But the relationship is fraying in other places: the companies are poised to compete head-to-head in London, where Uber is preparing a separate service. Uber said it is readying a new autonomous-vehicle partner in Phoenix but declined to name it.
A Maturing Market
The robotaxi landscape looks far different than it did in 2023, when an Uber-Waymo tie-up still seemed improbable given their bruising 2018 legal settlement. Since then, Waymo has grown its fleet to roughly 4,000 vehicles, now offers more than 500,000 paid trips a week, operates in 11 major U.S. metros, and is launching in around 20 new cities this year. The Alphabet-owned company is also rolling out its newest robotaxi, the Zeekr-built van it calls Ojai. Uber, meanwhile, has signed deals with dozens of autonomous partners as it positions its app as a marketplace for many AV operators rather than a single technology stack.
The Phoenix exit underscores how leverage is shifting toward operators that have reached commercial scale. For more on the players in this race, see our coverage of Waymo's sixth-generation Ojai robotaxi, Uber's robotaxi launch plans in London, and Zoox's push toward commercial service.
Reporting based on coverage from TechCrunch.