“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.”
Waymo needed Uber’s riders when it had no scale. Now it has about 4,000 cars and 500,000 trips a week, so the partner is a crapshoot. Uber says it asked for a robotaxi option in its own app in Austin and Atlanta and Waymo said no. This is about owning the customer, not consistency. Uber has until January 2028 to find another robot.