Waymo and Uber end robotaxi partnership in Phoenix

Waymo and Uber confirmed on Monday the end of their nearly three-year partnership in Phoenix, Arizona, where they operated robotaxis—which are fully autonomous vehicles. The decision to end the deployment in Phoenix, which occurred in May, was the result of the contracted end date for the pilot program, which is a limited-scope test program. Following the conclusion of this pilot, Uber is readying a separate autonomous vehicle partnership in Phoenix, though it has not named the new partner.

Although the Phoenix pilot has ended, the collaboration between the two companies continues in other markets. Hundreds of Waymo autonomous vehicles remain available exclusively on Uber in Austin and Atlanta. However, the relationship is poised to shift toward direct competition in London, where the two companies are poised to compete against each other as early as this year.

Meanwhile, Waymo has integrated the vehicles dedicated to the Phoenix program back into its own fleet. According to Uber, the Phoenix deployment was intentionally limited, reaching just over a dozen vehicles. Waymo has grown its fleet to around 4,000 vehicles overall, and currently offers more than 500,000 trips every week across 11 major U.S. metro areas. The company is also in the process of launching in around 20 new cities this year.

Waymo noted that the Phoenix vehicles will continue to serve riders through its own app, including its public transit integration with Via and delivery services with DoorDash. Waymo, an autonomous vehicle company, stated: “This was a productive pilot that paved the way for future expansions and partnerships across the globe. After hundreds of thousands of trips with Uber, we have integrated these vehicles back into our Phoenix fleet, where they will continue to serve riders through Waymo, including our public transit integration with Via, and delivery with DoorDash”

The end of the Phoenix agreement highlights how much the autonomous vehicle landscape has evolved since the partnership began in 2023. At that time, a partnership between Waymo and Uber seemed unlikely due to their messy legal battle that ended in a settlement in 2018. Since then, Uber has signed agreements to add dozens of autonomous vehicle partners to its network. Meanwhile, the competitive environment has shifted; Cruise, a former competitor, has gone through its own scandal and is owned by General Motors.

Why it matters

The end of the Phoenix partnership marks a shift in the Uber-Waymo relationship as they prepare to compete directly in London, while both companies continue to scale their autonomous vehicle operations elsewhere.