Uber Executives Criticize Waymo Approach to Autonomous Vehicles

An Uber spokesperson said the company's position was not aimed at any specific company. "We will make no apologies for advocating for a hybrid future, which is both provably more efficient at matching supply across the peaks and valleys of rideshare demand, and of course represents a better future for drivers than merely advocating for their replacement," the spokesperson said.

Uber continues to support autonomy but has backed measures that could slow AV rollouts in major cities. The company has described New York City as the largest ridesharing market in the world, making up 10 percent of its U.S. trips. Waymo paused its testing operations in New York City after its permit expired in March.

In February, the governor withdrew a proposal to change the state's vehicle laws to effectively legalize robotaxi operations outside New York City. An Uber spokesperson cited the AV industry's failure to advance new regulation as one of the reasons the company needs to reexamine its deployment strategy.

"Today we partner with cities instead of confronting them," Uber's chief operating officer wrote in a LinkedIn post. A New York Times report linked the withdrawal to efforts to secure support for auto insurance reforms from labor unions that oppose driverless cars.

A December report quoted the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance calling for a moratorium and a study on AV testing and deployment in the city. Uber's senior director of public policy and communications was quoted as saying the moratorium proposal had a lot of merit and that officials need to be thoughtful about a transition.

Uber's policy paper also highlighted how AV systems continue to struggle with edge cases as they scale. On Monday, Waymo announced a software recall for 3,800 robotaxis after an incident in San Antonio in which a Waymo robotaxi drove into a flooded roadway.

On April 29, Uber's chief technology officer posted a video on X that appeared to show a Waymo vehicle overtaking a Muni bus in the wrong lane at a signal in San Francisco. The executive wrote that had the bus driver and he not steered away, the event could have been a serious incident.

The post described the event as a scary moment while noting support for AVs but stating that perception does not equal judgment. An Uber spokesperson said the post speaks for itself.