Uber (UBER, Financial) and Waymo have quietly extended their robotaxi footprint to Atlanta, opening up a 65-square-mile zone—from Downtown through Buckhead to Capitol View—where riders can summon fully autonomous Jaguar I-PACE vehicles at no extra charge via the Uber app.
The move builds on their September partnership announcement and follows Waymo One's March rollout in Austin, where it beat Tesla (TSLA, Financial) to market with paid robotaxi tests.
Unlike San Francisco and Los Angeles—where Waymo riders use the Waymo One app—Atlanta and Austin customers simply tap UberX, Comfort or Comfort Electric in Uber's app and may be paired with a Waymo vehicle.
Uber insists the pilot remains focused solely on passenger transport; there are no plans to add autonomous Eats deliveries. Meanwhile, Uber stock jumped 3.27% in premarket trading as investors cheered the next phase of driverless expansion.
For Tesla, which began limited paid robotaxi trials in South Austin this weekend, the Atlanta debut underscores both the promise and the competitive pressures of real-world autonomy testing.
Waymo's choice to lean on existing ride-hailing infrastructure could give it a faster path to scale, while Uber gains a hands-off play in driverless services without building the tech itself. Analysts say success will hinge on safety records, rider acceptance and regulatory support—and whether the seamless in-app integration keeps wait times and detours in check.
