The Waymo car leaves the charging station on Jan. 15, 2026 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Waymo robotaxi rides are no longer available through Uber The operation in Phoenix, Arizona, companies confirmed on Monday.
“Phoenix was our first test market with Waymo and was intentionally limited, with just over a dozen vehicles committed to the program,” Uber said in a statement. “We’ve learned a lot from that partnership, which has helped us quickly scale Austin and Atlanta, where hundreds of Waymo AVs are available only to Uber and our coverage area continues to grow.”
The end of the robotaxi test program raises questions about Uber’s dominance in the future of self-driving services.
Uber executives have positioned the company as an important platform that robotaxi players will have to rely on to find demand. The ride-hailing giant has partnered with all autonomous vehicle developers, except Tesla.
Tesla’s new robotic service is operating with a limited fleet of 69 registered, automated vehicles in Texas today.
Waymo said in a statement that the Uber program was “a productive pilot that paved the way for future expansion and collaboration around the world.”
Private cars that is Google Phoenix’s sister company Uber Driver will continue to operate there, and will make private deliveries through DoorDashcompeting with Uber Eats.
Waymo, which operates a fleet of about 4,000 self-driving cars in the US, is making its driverless rides available exclusively with Uber in Austin and Atlanta today. In nine other cities, Waymo’s robotaxi rides are available primarily through its app, and to a limited extent through public transit partnerships.
Waymo plans to offer rides in its robotaxi Lyft in Nashville later this year without exception.
Autonomous car industry researcher Grayson Brulte, founder of Automny AI, revealed that the company’s operations in Phoenix have ended in a social media post on Monday. The pilot program was completed about a month ago.
Uber said it plans to partner with another AV company in Phoenix but did not disclose which one.
Last fall, Tesla received a permit allowing it to operate a ride-hailing service in Arizona, a step toward its promises to build a robot service in the US. The company also received approval in Arizona to test autonomous vehicles with a human safety driver on board.
In March, Amazon-owned Zoox said it would be exploring the prospect of expanding its driverless ride services to Phoenix this year.
During the first-quarter earnings call, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi praised Uber’s partnerships in the self-driving car space, including deals RivianZoox, China’s Pony.AI and Croatia’s Verne.
“AV Mobility trips on Uber have increased by more than 10 per year, and we are now in eight cities, with plans to grow to 15 by the end of the year,” he said.
Waymo is very much a leader in the US, and is looking to expand into other countries this year.
Starting last month, the company issued a voluntary software recall, including a fix for problems that allowed Waymo’s robotaxis to drive through construction sites on freeways in Phoenix.
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