Waymo to end Uber exclusivity in Austin and Atlanta from January 2028

Waymo ends its Uber exclusivity in Austin and Atlanta

Waymo will end its exclusive arrangement with Uber in Austin and Atlanta starting in January 2028, co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana told Bloomberg News, in a development reported by TechCrunch on November 4, 2026. Once the change takes effect, the robotaxi operator intends to serve those two markets directly through its own smartphone app, the same rider-facing model it already uses in its other cities.

The announcement does not amount to a clean break. According to TechCrunch, Uber said it still plans to host Waymo robotaxis on its app for as long as the two companies agree, which leaves the door open to both channels operating side by side once exclusivity lapses. TechCrunch also noted that Waymo did not respond to a request for comment, and that the publication updated its story to clarify that Mawakana's remarks concerned the exclusivity rather than the partnership as a whole.

The confirmation follows earlier reporting by the Financial Times that Waymo was looking to exit the Uber arrangement, a deal the outlet said was set to run until May 2028.

Why Waymo wants its own app back

Mawakana told Bloomberg that Waymo originally partnered with Uber in those markets because the ride-hailing company offered scale. But the experience from the rider's point of view has been uneven, she indicated: passengers booking through Uber have no way of knowing in advance whether an autonomous Waymo vehicle or a human-driven car will show up, which she described as something of a gamble for the customer.

She added that maintaining a direct relationship with riders is important to Waymo, and that this is feedback the company has heard from customers in both markets.

Uber, for its part, told Bloomberg that the absence of a dedicated robotaxi booking option inside its app was Waymo's idea rather than its own. The company, which counts numerous robotaxi and other autonomous vehicle operators among its partners, framed the current setup as a choice made by Waymo.

Why it matters

The January 2028 date lands ahead of the May 2028 expiration the Financial Times reported for the original deal, a gap consistent with Uber continuing to carry Waymo vehicles after the exclusive period ends. It also marks a significant shift in how one of the most prominent robotaxi operations in the United States reaches customers. Austin and Atlanta are the markets where Waymo has operated exclusively through Uber, and they have functioned as a test of whether autonomous vehicle operators need incumbent ride-hailing platforms to reach riders at scale.

For Waymo, ending exclusivity restores control over the rider relationship it ceded in those cities, including the booking interface, the brand experience and the customer feedback loop. Mawakana's comments suggest that control is now considered more valuable than the scale Uber provided at launch.

For Uber, the immediate loss looks limited: it keeps Waymo inventory wherever the agreement allows, alongside its broader portfolio of autonomous driving partners. But exclusivity was a competitive asset in Austin and Atlanta, and its removal means Waymo becomes one of several ways to catch a driverless ride there, with Waymo's own app competing directly for the same trips.

More broadly, the move sends a signal to the rest of the industry. Partnerships struck to buy distribution in the early days of robotaxi deployment can be revisited once an operator is established enough to acquire riders on its own, and other AV companies that leaned on ride-hailing platforms for demand now have a prominent example of a partner pulling the customer-facing side of the business back in-house.