Waymo pulls its robotaxis from Uber

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Heat up your 4th of July at the Home Depot with our wide variety of grills under $300 and make every gathering one to remember. Give your outdoor space a glow up. Whatever your budget is, the savings on seasonal plants starting at $5.
With the grill fired up and your backyard set to perfection, you'll be able to invite friends and family over to kick off the party. Start celebrating with low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot. Prices may vary by store, using the pricey Home depot.com/pricematch for details.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:31)
This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration blog, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required compatibility and availability varies 18 plus.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:57)
Somewhere between the first drive and settling in at the clubhouse, golf becomes more than just a game. Lululemon Golf Gear is built for the full range of your day. Light layers as you head to early tee times. Flexible fits move naturally with your swing. Our fabrics wick sweat and block UVs for hours in the sun. And refined cuts carry you well into the 19th hole.
Shop golf gear in stores and online at lululemon.com.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:26)
Waymo and Uber have quietly wound down their nearly three year robo taxi partnership in Phoenix.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:32)
Right. And the physical shift on the ground there is, I mean, it's just immediate. Waymo is pulling all of those vehicles back into its own proprietary fleet.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:42)
So for the past few years, if you called an Uber in that city, a fully autonomous Waymo vehicle might actually pull up to curb to drive you.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:51)
Yeah, it was a totally seamless integration. You didn't have to leave the Uber ecosystem at all to get a self-driving car.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:56)
But as of today, that arrangement is officially over, and Waymo is taking its cars off the Uber platform entirely.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:03)
Right. Which means if you want one of their cars in Phoenix now, you have to use the actual Waymo app.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:09)
You have to create a completely separate account.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:11)
Yeah. Link a credit card directly to them and manage your rides entirely outside the Uber ecosystem.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:17)
While Uber, on the other hand, is already actively looking for a new autonomous provider to fill that empty space on their network.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:24)
Exactly. Meaning, they aren't abandoning the idea of self-driving cars. They're just moving on from this specific hardware provider.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:32)
Which brings us to the core tension of this entire situation. If two companies can quietly untangle their operations in one city, while still actively partnering in others, how do they manage the underlying conflict when they inevitably collide as direct competitors in entirely new markets?

**SPEAKER_5** (2:49)
Because they're pulling apart in Arizona, but they're still heavily intertwined in other states.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:53)
If you're not subscribed yet, take a second and hit follow on whatever podcast app you're using. It helps us keep making this. We appreciate you being here. For a different social media experience, no bots, no billionaires, check out pushdup.com. C-S, that's P-U-S-H-D-U-P.
You're Tom. There's a link in the show notes.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:12)
Uber is calling the Phoenix setup an intentionally limited deployment, which is...

**SPEAKER_4** (3:16)
Right, they're projecting this idea that this was always going to end.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:20)
Yeah, and now the vehicles are just simply gone from the Uber app in that area. Yeah. But for a rider, it really breaks the convenience of a unified aggregator.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:28)
Totally. I mean, think about the last time you landed at an airport in a new city.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:32)
You didn't search the app store for a local taxi service.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:35)
No, you opened Uber because it's already on your home screen. Your payment info is already saved.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:40)
Right, and that is the behavioral inertia Waymo is asking you to break. If you want their car, you have to bypass that default option entirely.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:49)
They are basically trading that built-in convenience for absolute control.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:53)
Yeah, Waymo is betting that the novelty and I guess the quality of the autonomous ride will convince people to actually open a separate app.

**SPEAKER_4** (4:03)
They want to dictate the entire customer experience because when you book through Uber, Uber controls the communication, the receipt, the map interface.