Waymo reportedly mulling a breakup with Uber

Waymo is reportedly preparing to end its partnership with Uber in two more cities, according to a Financial Times report, as the Alphabet-owned self-driving company moves toward operating its own standalone robotaxi app rather than routing rides exclusively through Uber's platform.

Austin and Atlanta targeted for 2028

Waymo currently makes its autonomous vehicles available to riders in Austin and Atlanta through Uber's app, an arrangement that has helped the company scale its robotaxi service without building its own consumer-facing booking infrastructure from scratch in every market. That contract runs until May 2028, but Waymo is reportedly planning to launch its own competing app in both cities starting in January 2028, several months before the existing Uber deal even expires.

The move would mirror what already happened in Phoenix, where Waymo and Uber ended their partnership earlier in 2026. Phoenix was one of Waymo's earliest and most mature robotaxi markets, and its split from Uber there was seen as an early signal that the two companies' interests were starting to diverge as Waymo's own technology and brand recognition matured.

Tension over robotaxi safety and conduct

The reported plans come against a backdrop of rising friction between the two companies. Uber's chief technology officer, Praveen Neppalli, posted a video publicly criticizing what he described as "unsafe and 'scary'" behavior from a Waymo robotaxi, a rare instance of one partner publicly calling out the other's core product.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has also raised concerns directly, telling investors during an earnings call that he had questions about how Waymo's vehicles behave in school zones and around emergency vehicles — situations where human drivers rely on judgment and social cues that autonomous systems have historically struggled to replicate reliably.

A shifting robotaxi landscape

The two companies have also clashed more broadly over regulation and lobbying, with Waymo and Uber sometimes pushing in different directions on how autonomous vehicle rules should be written at the state and federal level. As Waymo's fleet expands into more cities and its technology matures, the incentive to remain dependent on Uber's app — and split revenue and data access with a partner — appears to be weakening.

Uber, for its part, has continued diversifying its own robotaxi partnerships beyond Waymo, working with multiple other autonomous vehicle developers in different markets, a hedge that would make a full Waymo split less disruptive to its business than it might have been a few years ago.

What a full split would mean

If Waymo does proceed with standalone apps in Austin and Atlanta come January 2028, it would leave Uber's ride-hailing platform without direct access to one of the most established autonomous vehicle fleets in the country in two more major markets, following the earlier loss of Phoenix. For Waymo, building its own consumer app in every city it operates in is a considerably heavier lift than piggybacking on Uber's existing user base, requiring it to invest in its own marketing, customer acquisition, and support infrastructure rather than relying on a partner that already had millions of riders primed to book a trip. That the company appears willing to take on that cost suggests Waymo's leadership increasingly views full control over the rider experience, and the data and revenue that comes with it, as worth the extra operational complexity.