Uber, Waymo Launch Robotaxis In Atlanta As Autonomous Ride-Hailing Competition Intensifies After Tesla KIcks Off Pilot

Uber Technologies (UBER) on Tuesday said that its customers in Atlanta can now avail Waymo robotaxi rides via its app, sending shares of the ride-hailing platform soaring over 3% in pre-market.

Customers requesting an UberX, Comfort, or Comfort Electric vehicle on the Uber app can be matched with a Waymo fully autonomous all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicle at no additional cost. However, customers will retain the option of accepting or declining a driverless ride.

At launch, riders will be able to travel across 65 square miles of Atlanta – from Downtown to Buckhead to Capitol View – with Uber planning to expand coverage area in the future.

In Austin, Texas, where Waymo rides are available exclusively on Uber since March, there are 100 Waymo vehicles of the robotaxis on the platform as of this date, Uber said. It is unclear how many Waymo robotaxis are operating in Atlanta on Uber.

Uber and Waymo announced their plan to deploy autonomous ride-hailing together in Austin and Atlanta in September. The companies then said the fleets in the two cities will expand to hundreds over time.

Waymo currently operates over 1,500 robotaxis in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin and provides more than 250,000 paid trips each week. In March, the company also said that it intends to launch autonomous ride-hailing in Washington starting in 2026.

The robotaxi company is a unit of Alphabet Inc (GOOG, GOOGL).

The announcement from Uber comes on the heels of EV giant Tesla Inc. (TSLA) pilot launching a few of its Model Y vehicles as robotaxis in a geofenced area within Austin on Sunday. Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously said the company intends to expand the service to other cities and deploy more autonomous vehicles in time.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Uber is trending in the ‘bullish’ territory.

UBER stock is up by about 41% this year and by about 21% over the past 12 months.

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