Anamika Dey, editor
Brief news
- Starting in early 2025, Uber will offer robotaxi services in Austin and Atlanta through a partnership with Waymo, boosting Uber’s shares by 5%.
- Passengers may be matched with driverless Waymo cars via the Uber app, while Waymo’s existing services in San Francisco and Los Angeles remain separate.
- Uber aims to enhance its autonomous vehicle strategy amid investor pressure and competition from Tesla, while Waymo continues to expand its robotaxi services.
Detailed news
Early first half of 2025, Uber will offer robotaxi journeys in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta as part of its partnership with Alphabet’s Waymo, as announced on Friday. Uber’s shares increased by 5% in response to the news, while Alphabet’s shares increased by approximately 1%.
The companies have indicated that Uber passengers in those cities may be matched with a driverless Waymo car for certain journeys. In contrast to San Francisco and Los Angeles, where passengers reserve journeys through the Waymo app, Uber will exclusively have the rides available through its app. A spokesperson for Waymo stated that the company had no intention of collaborating with Uber in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Uber is expected to increase its autonomous vehicle strategy in response to investor pressure, particularly in anticipation of Tesla’s robotaxi event on October 10. Uber’s shares have declined by 9% since the Tesla event was announced and are down by 17% from their 52-week highs.
It may also impede Waymo’s invasion of Uber’s market share. According to Bernstein’s analysis, Waymo’s 50,000 paid journeys per week accounted for approximately 2% of ride-sharing utilization in San Francisco as of May 2024. Waymo has since doubled its paid robotaxi journeys to 100,000 per week.
“We are delighted to expand upon our successful partnership with Waymo, which has already enabled fully autonomous trips for tens of thousands of riders in Phoenix,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated in a press release.
Autonomous Uber Eats deliveries in Phoenix were also included in Uber’s initial agreement with Waymo. According to the spokesperson for Waymo, Uber Eats will not be included in the initial expansion into Austin and Atlanta; however, they are currently investigating the possibility of incorporating it in the future.
Tekedra Mawakana, Waymo’s co-CEO, expressed his enthusiasm for the positive feedback received from Waymo One passengers thus far. He added, “We are eager to introduce the Waymo Driver, which offers the same level of safety, convenience, and comfort, to these cities in collaboration with Uber.”
Uber’s expansion into two additional cities is yet another significant stride in its journey to become a leader in the robotaxi industry. Following its unsuccessful attempt to establish a presence and the subsequent sale of its self-driving division in 2020, Uber is now dependent on partnerships with companies such as GM and Waymo.
SoftBank and Cruise supported U.K. startup Wayve to expand its market share.
In August, Uber’s shares experienced a decline following the announcement of a multiyear partnership with Cruise to provide autonomous transportation through its app next year. Ken Gawrelski, an analyst at Wells Fargo, attributed investor skepticism to Cruise’s prior safety challenges, as well as the now-realized aspirations for a partnership with Waymo.
Waymo has made significant progress in the self-driving competition. At present, it provides robotaxi services to the public in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. As of June of this year, it has traveled more than 22 million miles. Last week, it issued a report that contended that its vehicles are safer than human pilots.. In August, it initiated the trial of driverless vehicles on Bay Area freeways with Google employees.
Some analysts were more optimistic about the prospective expansion of Uber and Waymo into San Francisco. However, sentiment may still be bolstered by Atlanta and Austin, where Waymo has already initiated testing.
Source : CNBC News
