(Ross D. Franklin/AP/File)
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Waymo’s robotaxis will start carrying passengers by way of elements of Atlanta on June 24 in an enlargement of a partnership with Uber that started earlier this yr in Austin.
Waymo’s driverless march into Atlanta comes simply days after Tesla lastly launched a restricted robotaxi service in Austin, greater than 5 years after CEO Elon Musk brashly promised the electrical automaker would rapidly overtake Waymo because the chief in autonomous driving know-how. In contrast to Waymo’s robotaxis, Tesla is initially putting a human within the passenger seat of its rival service to take over the automobile if one thing goes unsuitable.
Whereas Tesla is beginning with a few dozen supervised robotaxis, Waymo and Uber have dispatched about 100 fully driverless automobiles in Austin lower than 4 months after their partnership started. The enlargement into Atlanta retains the 2 firms aligned with a highway map they laid out final September.
As has been the case in Austin, Waymo’s robotaxis in Atlanta might be dispatched by way of Uber’s app. Uber will give prospects a option to request a automotive operated by a human in the event that they don’t wish to take a driverless experience. The robotaxis will initially cowl a 65-square-mile space throughout the Atlanta market earlier than increasing to a bigger stretch.
The A goes Autonomous! 🎉 Waymo rides are actually stay in Atlanta, solely on @Uber. Enhance your possibilities of getting matched → open the Uber app, go to settings, and toggle Waymo experience preferences on. pic.twitter.com/uYNHPJxkUL
— Waymo (@Waymo) June 24, 2025
Waymo’s personal ride-hailing app is on the market in Phoenix, Los Angeles and a steadily increasing swath of the San Francisco Bay space. Factoring in its partnership with Uber, Waymo is presently offering greater than 250,000 paid rides per week — making it the early front-runner within the still-nascent robotaxi market.
READ MORE: Waymo Applies for NYC Testing Allow
However competitors looms down the highway as Musk continues to insist Tesla’s robotaxi service will have the ability to develop rapidly and Amazon gears as much as carry its Zoox driverless cabs to Las Vegas later this yr — with plans to broaden into San Francisco subsequent yr. Zoox can also be aiming to carry its robotaxi service to Atlanta, though it hasn’t set a goal date for that but.
Uber as soon as had ambitions to construct robotaxis, however reversed course after a bruising authorized battle with Waymo, which alleged the ride-hailing firm stole its autonomous know-how after poaching one among its engineers. After reaching a $245 million settlement with Waymo, Uber finally offered its self-driving automobile division following a 2018 crash that killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz.
Uber then pivoted to robotaxi partnerships to stay aggressive as driverless cabs reshape the ride-hailing market. “By integrating Waymo’s cutting-edge know-how into the Uber platform, we’re persevering with to make transportation extra handy, sustainable, and dependable,” mentioned Sarfraz Maredia, who oversees Uber’s efforts in autonomous driving.
With 18 totally different robotaxi partnerships in place around the globe, Uber says it’s on tempo to make about 1.5 million annual driverless journeys that both transport passengers or ship meals.
