Alphabet (GOOGL) and Uber (UBER) have announced an end to their joint robotaxi pilot project that they had been running in Phoenix, Arizona.
Alphabet said that its Waymo robotaxi rides will no longer be available via the Uber app in Phoenix, effectively ending the companies partnership on self-driving taxi rides.
Analysts were quick to say that the end of the robotaxi pilot program raises questions about Uber’s future in the self-driving service space.
Uber has struck partnerships with every major autonomous vehicle developer, with the exception of Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA).
Tesla’s robotaxi service is operating with a limited fleet of only 69 automated vehicles that are based in Texas.
Waymo, which operates a fleet of about 4,000 self-driving vehicles in the U.S., makes its driverless rides available exclusively via Uber in Austin, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia.
In nine other cities, Waymo’s robotaxi passenger rides are available via its own app and through public transit partnerships.
Uber said that it plans to partner with another robotaxi company in Arizona but did not disclose which one.
Uber’s other partnerships in the driverless vehicle space include Rivian (RIVN), Amazon (AMZN), China’s Pony.AI, and Croatia’s Verne.
Through its Waymo division, Alphabet is the U.S. leader in self-driving robotaxis with plans for international expansion later this year.
The stock of Alphabet, which is the parent company of Google, has doubled in the last 12 months to trade at $353.65 U.S. per share.
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