Waymo, Uber, Tesla Advance Robotaxi Competition

Waymo has expanded its autonomous service area in Austin to 90 square miles and surpassed 100 million miles driven without a human driver, reinforcing its leadership in the U.S. robotaxi sector. Tesla has recently expanded its robotaxi pilot in Austin, but its vehicles still require safety drivers and remain behind Waymo in both scale and autonomy. Uber is making a $300 million investment with Lucid and Nuro to deploy over 20,000 fully autonomous Lucid Gravity SUVs on its platform starting in 2026, and is also collaborating with Waymo in Austin and Atlanta. Additionally, Uber is broadening its global reach through a new partnership with Baidu to launch robotaxi services in Asia and the Middle East. The accelerating rollout of robotaxis is disrupting traditional car ownership and dealership models. However, the industry continues to face regulatory and safety challenges as it scales nationwide.