Julia Ilina, communications manager at Waymo, stands beside one of the company’s self-driving taxis in San Francisco (AP Photo/Terry Chea, File)
Waymo is rolling out its driverless taxi service in Atlanta starting Tuesday, expanding its partnership with Uber. This move follows the successful launch of the same collaboration earlier this year in Austin, Texas.
The timing is notable—Waymo’s Atlanta launch comes just days after Tesla began a smaller-scale robotaxi test in Austin. However, unlike Waymo’s fully autonomous vehicles, Tesla's service still requires a human passenger ready to intervene if needed. Tesla, which had previously boasted about outpacing Waymo, is now playing catch-up with just a dozen supervised cars on the road.
In contrast, Waymo and Uber have deployed around 100 completely driverless vehicles in Austin in under four months. Now, they're bringing the same approach to Atlanta, marking another step in the roadmap both companies announced last September.
How It Works
Just like in Austin, Atlanta riders will be able to hail Waymo’s robotaxis using the Uber app. If they prefer a traditional ride, the app will give them the option to select a human driver instead. Initially, the self-driving taxis will operate across a 65-square-mile area of the city, with plans to expand the coverage in the near future.
Waymo’s own ride-hailing app is also available in cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, and parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. Altogether, including its Uber collaboration, Waymo is now completing more than 250,000 paid rides every week, making it the current leader in the robotaxi industry.
Rising Competition on the Horizon
Despite Waymo's lead, competition is heating up. Elon Musk has promised rapid growth for Tesla’s robotaxi service, although its progress has been slow. Meanwhile, Amazon’s Zoox is preparing to roll out its driverless cabs in Las Vegas by the end of the year, with plans to expand to San Francisco in 2025. Zoox has also expressed interest in entering the Atlanta market, but hasn’t set a date.
Uber, which once aimed to develop its own autonomous vehicles, stepped away from that goal after a costly legal fight with Waymo. The dispute centred on accusations that Uber stole trade secrets after hiring a former Waymo engineer. The case ended in a $245 million settlement. Following a tragic 2018 incident where one of Uber’s test vehicles killed a pedestrian in Arizona, the company sold off its self-driving division entirely.
Uber’s New Strategy
Instead of building its own robotaxis, Uber has focused on teaming up with leading tech companies like Waymo. “By bringing Waymo’s top-tier technology to our app, we’re making rides more accessible and dependable,” said Sarfraz Maredia, head of Uber’s autonomous driving division.
Uber currently has 18 robotaxi partnerships globally and aims to complete about 1.5 million driverless trips annually, including both passenger transport and food deliveries. This shows Uber’s strong push to remain relevant as the ride-hailing landscape shifts towards autonomy.
