TLDR
- Amazon’s Zoox will begin testing in Houston and San Diego, bringing its US presence to 12 locations
- Alphabet’s Waymo is launching paid driverless rides in Denver, San Diego, and Tampa, reaching 14 cities
- Waymo currently delivers over 500,000 robotaxi rides per week and aims to hit 1 million by year end
- The US robotaxi market is projected to reach $19 billion by 2030 and $48 billion by 2035
- Both announcements come just ahead of Tesla’s September 3 event on its Cybercab robotaxi plans
Amazon’s Zoox and Alphabet’s Waymo have both announced expansions of their robotaxi services into new US cities, stepping up competition in the autonomous ride-hailing market.
$GOOGL $AMZN Waymo and Zoox are expanding their U.S. robotaxi operations 🚖🤖
Waymo is launching paid driverless rides in San Diego, Denver and Tampa. Zoox will start testing in Houston and San Diego this month. pic.twitter.com/wGOg5SN7Ej
— The Future Investors (@ftr_investors) September 1, 2026
Zoox said it plans to begin testing in Houston and San Diego. That brings the company’s total US presence to 12 locations.
The expansion will start with retrofitted test vehicles used for manual mapping. Zoox will then move to its purpose-built driverless robotaxis once testing is complete.
Zoox has been running free passenger rides in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Austin, and Miami as part of its testing program. It launched paid rides in Las Vegas in August, making it the only city where the service is currently commercial.
Waymo Pushes Into Three New Markets
Waymo is moving faster on the commercial side. The company is now welcoming its first public riders in Denver, San Diego, and Tampa.
That expansion brings Waymo’s fully autonomous ride service to 14 US cities. The company says it will gradually open access to riders in the three new locations.
Waymo already handles more than 500,000 robotaxi rides per week across the US. The company has set a target of surpassing 1 million weekly rides before the end of this year.
Waymo is also looking beyond the US. Last month the company said it would begin testing in Munich, ahead of a planned commercial launch in Germany toward the end of 2027.
Tesla Event Adds to the Pressure
The announcements from both companies come just before Tesla’s event on September 3. Tesla is expected to share updates on its Cybercab and its own robotaxi service at that event.
Tesla has been seen as a key competitor in the autonomous ride-hailing space, alongside Waymo and Zoox. The timing of the Zoox and Waymo news, days before the Tesla event, highlights how fast this market is moving.
Goldman Sachs Research projects the US robotaxi market will reach $19 billion in 2030. By 2035, that figure is expected to grow to $48 billion.
Zoox still trails Waymo in terms of commercial reach. Waymo operates paid driverless services across multiple cities, while Zoox currently offers paid rides only in Las Vegas.
Both companies are pushing to scale as fast as possible. For now, Waymo holds the larger footprint and the higher weekly ride count.
The robotaxi race is expected to get more attention this week when Tesla takes the stage on September 3 to lay out its own plans.
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