After almost three years of shared operations in the Phoenix area, Waymo and Uber have wound down their joint robotaxi pilot, company spokespeople confirmed. The ride-hailing element of the program ended last month, and Waymo has reintegrated the vehicles that had been dedicated to the Uber program back into its own local fleet. Those vehicles remain available for riders through the Waymo app and continue to be used in other commercial arrangements, including a delivery agreement with DoorDash and a public-transit partnership with Via Transportation.
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A Waymo autonomous minivan on a city street — vehicles like this were used in the nearly three‑year Waymo–Uber robotaxi pilot that wrapped up last month.
Waymo described the Phoenix effort as a productive test of the companies’ ability to operate together. "This was a productive pilot that paved the way for future expansions and partnerships across the globe," a Waymo spokesperson said. "After hundreds of thousands of trips with Uber, we have integrated these vehicles back into our Phoenix fleet." The pilot, which focused on a limited number of vehicles and routes, logged substantial usage during the partnership.
Uber characterized the Phoenix deployment as intentionally small. "Phoenix was our first pilot market with Waymo and was an intentionally limited deployment, reaching just over a dozen vehicles dedicated to the program," an Uber spokesperson said. Uber noted that the experience gained through the Phoenix pilot helped accelerate its operations in other cities where Waymo vehicles are available via the Uber app, specifically Austin and Atlanta. Uber also said the two companies parted ways in Phoenix because they had reached the contracted end date for that market, and that it plans to announce a new autonomous-vehicle partner for Phoenix in the near future.
An autonomous vehicle fitted with rooftop sensors, the kind of hardware deployed in robotaxi testing during the Waymo and Uber partnership in Phoenix.
The collaboration between the two companies divided operational duties: Uber handled tasks such as charging and maintenance logistics, while Waymo supplied the self-driving software, real-time oversight and rider support. Where the partnership has expanded — notably into Austin and later Atlanta — Waymo’s autonomous vehicles have been accessible through the Uber platform, with fares set to align with the ride-hailing service’s standard UberX and Comfort pricing tiers.
Waymo has been growing its autonomous fleet and service footprint across the United States. The company’s vehicle count has reached roughly 4,000, and its weekly trip volume now exceeds 500,000 across more than 10 U.S. cities. Plans for the year include rollouts in approximately 20 additional markets; in some areas, other ride-hail platforms are integrating Waymo vehicles as well, with Nashville riders expected to be able to hail Waymo vehicles through Lyft.
The end of the Phoenix pilot comes as the two companies both expand and prepare to face each other directly in other markets, including London. Waymo, meanwhile, has disclosed two voluntary software recalls in recent weeks. One of those recalls was tied to a software flaw that, in Phoenix, allowed vehicles to enter active freeway construction zones without coming to a stop — a matter the company acknowledged and addressed through the recall process.
With the Phoenix arrangement concluded, Waymo’s former Uber-dedicated vehicles will continue to operate under Waymo’s direct services and existing commercial agreements. Uber, for its part, has signaled that it will name a new autonomous-vehicle partner to restore robotaxi access via its app in Phoenix. Both companies will carry forward operational lessons from the pilot as they expand autonomous offerings in other cities and explore differing commercial relationships with vehicle operators, delivery services and transit providers.
Local reporting from KTAR News and the Phoenix Business Journal confirmed the partnership formally concluded in May after aiding operational scaling for both firms. Industry podcast The Road to Autonomy, which first surfaced the split, examined likely next steps for the companies in Austin and Atlanta along with potential new partners for Uber in Phoenix.
A June 17 filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Part 573 Safety Recall Report No. 26E035) shows Waymo’s construction‑zone software recall covers 3,871 vehicles; the company’s Safety Board decided on June 8, 2026 to conduct the voluntary recall after 13 incidents in April and May (six in Phoenix, seven in the San Francisco Bay Area), and Waymo temporarily restricted freeway driving while an over‑the‑air software remedy and additional operational protocols were developed and deployed.
Waymo has also begun limited passenger service in its new Zeekr‑built robotaxi, rebranded the “Ojai,” which carries the company’s 6th‑generation Driver; early Ojai deployments have been reported in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles and the vans are being outfitted with Waymo hardware at the company’s Arizona facility.