Waymo to End Uber Exclusivity in Austin and Atlanta, Launch Its Own App in 2028

The Waymo Uber partnership is heading for a major change. Waymo has confirmed it will end its exclusive robotaxi deal with Uber in Austin and Atlanta from January 2028. After that, riders in both cities will be able to book Waymo rides directly through Waymo’s own app.

The move shows how much power has shifted in the self-driving car industry. A few years ago, Waymo needed Uber’s huge customer base. Now, with more than 500,000 paid rides a week, Waymo believes it can stand on its own. Here is what changes, why it is happening and what it means for Uber.

What Waymo Announced

Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana confirmed the plan in an interview with Bloomberg on November 4, 2026. According to InsideEVs, Waymo will serve riders in Austin and Atlanta through its own app from January 2028, as it already does in many other US cities.

This means Uber and Waymo will become direct competitors in both cities. However, the change is not immediate. According to The Next Web, the existing contract keeps Waymo’s current fleet on the Uber app through at least May 2028. As a result, riders should not see any sudden changes.

The news first surfaced in July, when Uber confirmed that Waymo had notified it of the plan. At the time, Uber shares fell more than 4%, closing at their lowest level in over a year.

Why the Waymo Uber Deal Is Changing

Mawakana explained the shift simply. “In the early days, we would partner because we didn’t have the scale,” she said. Now that Waymo has grown, partnering makes less sense in cities where it can run its own service.

She also pointed to a practical problem with the current setup. Riders who book through Uber can opt in to autonomous rides. However, they only get a Waymo if enough vehicles are nearby. Otherwise, Uber matches them with a human driver. Mawakana described the results as “a little bit of a crapshoot.”

Uber reportedly offered a dedicated robotaxi ride option to improve matching. However, Waymo reportedly declined the offer.

Tension Behind the Scenes

The relationship has faced growing strain for months. According to Bloomberg reporting cited by The Next Web, Uber raised several complaints about the partnership:

• Economics that Uber called unsustainable
• Persistent safety problems
• Waymo not being forthcoming about incidents

Uber also pointed to specific incidents. For example, Waymo robotaxis illegally passed school buses in Austin, and Uber said it learned about this from media reports rather than official channels. In addition, Waymo vehicles drove into flooded roads despite a software recall. We covered Waymo’s safety recalls earlier this year in our report on the Waymo robotaxi recall.

Meanwhile, Waymo has steadily pulled back from the partnership. Its Phoenix partnership with Uber ended in June after nearly three years. Since launching in Atlanta, Waymo has expanded into new cities through its own app rather than through Uber.

Waymo’s Growing Strength

Waymo’s confidence comes from its scale. The Alphabet-owned company now delivers more than 500,000 paid driverless rides every week across the United States. That gives it real leverage over ride-hailing partners.

Lyft CEO David Risher summed this up well last year. He called Lyft’s own Waymo deal a “situationship” and admitted that Waymo holds the power because it controls the vehicles, the software and, increasingly, the rider relationship. Waymo still works with Lyft in Nashville, but that deal is not exclusive, and Waymo also runs its own app there.

Owning the rider relationship matters a lot. When riders use Waymo’s app, Waymo keeps the full fare, collects valuable data and builds its own brand. By contrast, when rides go through Uber, Uber takes a cut and owns the customer.

What This Means for Uber

For Uber, losing exclusive access to Waymo is a blow. Investors worry that self-driving companies could eventually cut Uber out entirely. In fact, Uber’s stock had fallen around 20% this year by July, largely because of concerns that Waymo’s growth could hurt Uber’s business.

Still, Uber is far from giving up on robotaxis. The company has built a wide network of other autonomous vehicle partners, including Avride and Nuro. It also signed a deal worth over $1 billion for up to 50,000 Rivian-built robotaxis.

Uber has set ambitious targets, too. According to InsideEVs, Uber plans to have about 700 robotaxis on its network by the end of 2026 and 2,000 by the end of 2027. However, none of its other partners currently operate anywhere near Waymo’s scale, and some will not have vehicles on the road until late 2026 or later.

Uber’s core business remains strong for now. In its third quarter of 2026, the company reported $14.8 billion in revenue and $59.8 billion in gross bookings. Revenue grew 10% year on year, and the company posted net income of $512 million, even after a $476 million pre-tax loss on its equity investments. In other words, Uber is profitable and growing, which gives it time and money to build its robotaxi strategy. Even so, the long-term threat from robotaxis remains a key question for investors.

What It Means for Riders

In the short term, riders in Austin and Atlanta will see little change. Waymo vehicles will stay on the Uber app under the current contract. From 2028, however, riders will have a choice: book a Waymo directly or use Uber, which may offer rides from other self-driving partners.

More competition could mean better prices and more options. On the other hand, riders may need multiple apps to access every service. This mirrors a wider trend where AI-powered services compete to own the customer, as we explored in how AI agents are reshaping work.

The Bottom Line

The end of the exclusive Waymo Uber arrangement in Austin and Atlanta shows that Waymo no longer needs Uber to grow. With more than half a million paid rides a week, it wants to own its customers directly. For Uber, the challenge is to build a strong network of other robotaxi partners before Waymo pulls further ahead. Ultimately, 2028 could mark the moment when robotaxi companies stop being partners and become full rivals.