TLDR
- Uber and Alphabet’s Waymo have ended their robotaxi partnership in Phoenix, Arizona.
- Uber is preparing a new autonomous vehicle partnership in the city, with the partner not yet named.
- Waymo’s vehicles remain on Uber’s app in Austin and Atlanta.
- The split follows Waymo’s recall of nearly 3,900 robotaxis over a software issue.
- UBER stock carries a Strong Buy rating with 43.2% upside potential, despite being down 8% year-to-date.
Uber Technologies (UBER) stock slipped 0.92% as the company confirmed it has ended its self-driving partnership with Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Waymo in Phoenix, Arizona. GOOGL stock, by contrast, climbed 4.82%, though the move appears unrelated to this specific announcement.
The Phoenix split marks the end of a deal struck back in 2023. Under that agreement, Uber had folded Waymo’s autonomous vehicles into its ride-hailing and food delivery platforms.
A Waymo spokesperson said the vehicles used in the Phoenix pilot have already been folded back into Waymo’s own fleet. Riders can still book them, just through Waymo’s own app instead of Uber’s.
Why Phoenix Was Different
Phoenix was actually the first market where Uber and Waymo tested their collaboration together. An Uber spokesperson described it as “an intentionally limited deployment,” covering just over a dozen vehicles dedicated to the program.
That’s a small number compared to Uber’s broader robotaxi ambitions. The company isn’t stepping back from autonomous vehicles in Phoenix, though. It’s already lining up a new AV partnership in the city, though it hasn’t named the partner yet.
Waymo’s vehicles aren’t disappearing from Uber’s app entirely. They remain available to book through Uber in both Austin and Atlanta.
The timing is worth noting. This split comes shortly after Waymo recalled roughly 3,900 robotaxis across the U.S.
That recall addressed a software issue that could let vehicles drive into closed freeway construction zones and keep going. Reuters reported the recall as the backdrop to the Phoenix breakup, though neither company has directly linked the two events.
Uber’s Wider Robotaxi Strategy
Uber has been busy stacking up AV partners well beyond Waymo. Its list now includes Rivian, Amazon’s Zoox, China’s Pony.AI, and Croatia’s Verne.
One name is conspicuously absent from that list: Tesla. Uber has not struck a partnership with Elon Musk’s company in the robotaxi space.
On the Q1 2026 earnings call, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi gave investors a sense of scale. He said AV mobility trips on Uber increased more than tenfold year over year.
Uber is currently live with autonomous rides in eight cities. The company has plans to expand that to as many as 15 cities by the end of the year.
Wall Street remains upbeat on Uber despite the stock’s rough start to 2026. The Strong Buy consensus rating is built on 28 Buy ratings and just two Holds.
The average price target sits at $108.12. That implies 43.2% upside from current levels.
UBER stock is down 8% year-to-date, even with that bullish analyst backdrop. The company has not disclosed when the new Phoenix AV partner will be announced.
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