Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says that the company is in discussions to have Waymo self-driving cars added to its network
“It's up to them.” — Speaking today at the Code Conference, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says that his company is in “discussions” to have Waymo self-driving cars added to its network.
Context & Ripple Effects
Khosrowshahi's 'discussions' remark at Code Conference marks a striking reversal from a year earlier, when Waymo asked a court to block Uber from operating autonomous vehicles at all amid the Levandowski trade-secrets case. The olive branch also lands just weeks after Waymo announced plans for a Phoenix hailing service built on partnerships with multiple companies — meaning Uber is positioning itself as one of those partners.
The competitive stakes are visible in the corpus: Lyft had already confirmed a Waymo collaboration in 2017, so Uber risks being the only major US ride-hail network without access to the leading self-driving fleet. The later record shows where this leads — a multi-year Uber-Waymo partnership announced in 2023 that put Waymo cars on Uber's platform in Phoenix.
First-order effects
- If talks succeed, Uber gains access to Waymo's self-driving cars through its existing network instead of relying solely on its own troubled autonomous program — while Waymo gets a demand channel beyond its own app.
- Waymo holds the leverage here: Khosrowshahi's 'it's up to them' concedes that Uber needs the deal more than Waymo does, given Waymo's stated plan to partner with multiple companies for expansion.
Second-order effects
- Lyft's earlier Waymo collaboration means both US ride-hail leaders are now courting the same autonomy supplier, pushing Waymo toward multi-network distribution and weakening any exclusivity either platform might want.
- A successful Waymo deal would undercut the rationale for Uber's expensive in-house self-driving effort — a pressure the corpus later confirms, when a court filing found Uber 'will likely' need to change its software or sign a deal with Waymo.
Third-order effects
- The pattern points to a structural split in ride-hailing: networks become distribution and operations layers while AV technology owners like Waymo control the driving itself — with the 2023 Phoenix rollout showing this division of labor actually materialized.
- Whoever aggregates rider demand across cities gains bargaining power over AV suppliers, but only as long as suppliers like Waymo choose breadth over running their own consumer apps everywhere.
The trend: Ride-hail platforms are evolving from owners of their own autonomy stacks into distribution partners for dedicated self-driving fleets, with Waymo deciding which networks get access.