Waymo will end Uber exclusivity in Austin and Atlanta in January 2028

Waymo will end its exclusivity arrangement with Uber in Austin and Atlanta starting in January 2028, co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana told Bloomberg News in a report published Wednesday. The move means riders in those two markets will be able to book Waymo robotaxis directly through Waymo's own smartphone app for the first time, matching how the company already operates in its other cities.

The announcement confirms a shift that industry watchers had anticipated. Reporting by the Financial Times earlier this year said Waymo was looking to exit its deal with Uber, which was originally set to expire in May 2028. Mawakana's comments now put a firm date on the change: January 2028, several months ahead of the contract's scheduled end.

Why does the January 2028 date matter?

The date matters because it marks the end of a structural experiment in how robotaxis reach customers. In Austin and Atlanta, Waymo rides have been available exclusively through Uber's platform. Everywhere else Waymo operates, riders use Waymo's own app. Starting in January 2028, the company will standardize on the direct-to-rider model across its markets.

Uber is not being cut out entirely. An Uber spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch on Wednesday that the company still plans to host Waymo robotaxis on its app "for as long as the two companies agree." In plain terms: exclusivity ends, but the partnership itself continues on non-exclusive terms.

The distinction is significant for the broader autonomy market. Uber has built a wide portfolio of robotaxi and autonomous vehicle partnerships, positioning itself as an aggregator that can connect riders to multiple self-driving operators. Waymo, meanwhile, has now signaled that owning the customer relationship is a priority it is unwilling to delegate permanently. Takeaway: the deal shifts from exclusive to open, and that reshapes who owns the rider in two of Waymo's key markets.

What did Waymo's CEO actually say?

Mawakana was candid about why Waymo initially chose Uber as its partner in these markets. She told Bloomberg that Uber offered scale — the ride-hail giant's massive existing user base gave Waymo immediate demand without having to build its own rider acquisition from scratch in new cities.

But the experience, in her words, has been "a little bit of a crapshoot." Riders requesting a car through Uber never know for certain whether they will get a Waymo robotaxi or a human-driven vehicle. That uncertainty, Mawakana suggested, weakens the connection between Waymo and the people riding in its cars.

"It's important for us to have that relationship with the rider. We've gotten that feedback from the riders in those markets," Mawakana told Bloomberg.

The quote cuts to the mechanism of the dispute. When a rider hails a Waymo through Uber, Uber owns the app interface, the payment relationship, and the trip data the rider sees. Waymo supplies the vehicle and the driving, but the brand experience lives inside someone else's product. For a company investing billions in autonomous driving technology, that split has a strategic cost. Takeaway: Waymo wants riders to know exactly whose car they are getting, and to build loyalty to Waymo itself.

Was Uber blindsided?

By Uber's own account, no. Uber — which maintains many robotaxi and other autonomous vehicle partners — told Bloomberg that it was Waymo's idea not to add an option in Uber's app to book a robotaxi directly.

That detail reframes the story in an important way. The problem was not simply that riders couldn't choose a Waymo through Uber. It's that Waymo declined to let them. The company could have pushed for a "robotaxi-only" toggle inside the Uber app, which would have solved the crapshoot problem without ending exclusivity. Instead, it chose not to, keeping the direct-booking capability as something only its own app would eventually offer.

That choice reveals the priority order. Fixing rider confusion was solvable within the partnership; building Waymo's own rider relationship was not. Takeaway: Uber says Waymo passed up an in-app fix, which suggests the direct-to-rider strategy drove the decision, not just rider complaints.

What stays the same?

Plenty. Uber will still list Waymo vehicles in Austin and Atlanta after January 2028, assuming both companies keep agreeing to the arrangement. Riders who prefer booking everything in one place will presumably still be able to do so, alongside Waymo's own app. And Waymo's operations in its other cities are unaffected — they already run on the direct model.

A note on the reporting itself: the original story was updated after publication, with new information from Uber and a correction clarifying that Mawakana's comments were about the exclusivity arrangement rather than the partnership as a whole. That nuance matters — Waymo is restructuring its relationship with Uber, not ending it.

Waymo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Takeaway: the partnership continues, minus exclusivity, and Austin and Atlanta riders will soon have two ways to get a Waymo.

What are the stakes for the robotaxi market?

The stakes extend past these two companies. Waymo is the most visible robotaxi operator in the United States, and Uber is its largest potential distribution channel. How they divide the rider relationship sets a template other autonomy companies will study.

For Uber, the loss of exclusivity is manageable on paper — the company already aggregates multiple AV partners and has said it wants more. But Waymo's exit from exclusive terms shows the limits of the aggregator model when the supplier is strong enough to reach riders on its own. Suppliers with premium technology and brand recognition will keep pushing for direct access.

For Waymo, the bet is that owning the app, the brand experience, and the rider feedback loop is worth more than the instant scale Uber provided. The company already runs its own app elsewhere, so the operational playbook exists; January 2028 is when Austin and Atlanta join it.

The next thing to watch is whether other Waymo-adjacent markets follow the same path when their agreements come up, and whether Uber's remaining AV partners negotiate similar exits — or never grant exclusivity in the first place.