Waymo Ends Uber Exclusivity in Austin and Atlanta, Moves Riders to Its Own App From January 2028
Waymo will stop offering its robotaxi rides through Uber in Austin and Atlanta starting in January 2028. From that date, riders in both cities will book Waymo vehicles through Waymo's own smartphone app. Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana confirmed the timing to Bloomberg News on November 4, 2026.
Until then, the arrangement was exclusive. Mawakana described the Uber app deal as a "crapshoot" for riders. Uber told Bloomberg that the absence of an option to book a Waymo robotaxi within the Uber app was Waymo's decision. The existing agreement was set to run until May 2028, but the contract permits ending the partnership in January 2028, a few months ahead of that expiry.
The split was signaled earlier. The Financial Times reported in early 2026 that Waymo was looking to exit its Uber deal. On July 24, 2026, Bloomberg reported that Alphabet's Waymo was exploring options to exit its robotaxi partnership with Uber Technologies, and Reuters carried the same account that day. Mawakana's November confirmation is the first time the company has put a date on the change.
Waymo, owned by Alphabet, already runs its own consumer service outside the Uber channel. Its blog describes fully driverless rides, with no human behind the wheel, that can be hailed through the Waymo app in San Antonio, San Diego, and Tampa, along with service at San Antonio International Airport. The company says it has served hundreds of thousands of riders in those three cities since opening service there earlier in the year. Austin and Atlanta would move to that same direct-booking model when the Uber arrangement ends.
For Uber, the change removes a fleet partner in two metro areas and returns demand for Waymo vehicles to Waymo. For riders, the practical difference is which app they open. Mawakana's "crapshoot" remark suggests Waymo saw the Uber-only booking path as an unreliable way to reach its customers.
The broader context here is distribution. A robotaxi operator needs a demand layer, meaning a way to reach riders: a ride-hailing marketplace such as Uber, its own app, or both. The sector has not settled who should own the rider relationship. An operator that controls its own app keeps the rider relationship, the pricing, and the usage data in one place. That control costs more, because the company must build and market a consumer brand from scratch in each city, which Waymo has already been doing in its other markets.
In my view, the more useful reading is the operational one. Moving two markets from a shared marketplace to a single operator's app is a clean test of whether a driverless service can carry its own demand at scale, and Waymo's experience in San Antonio, San Diego, and Tampa will be the reference point. If the direct channel works in Austin and Atlanta, riders there gain an app built specifically for autonomous rides, and the robotaxi category moves closer to operating as a product in its own right rather than a feature inside someone else's app.
