Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, talking on CNBC’s Squawk Field outdoors the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22, 2025.
Gerry Miller | CNBC
Trip-hailing and meals supply app Uber is opening its “curiosity listing” to customers in Austin, Texas, who need to be first in line for Waymo robotaxis there.
The corporate mentioned in an announcement that customers will “have the ability to journey throughout 37 sq. miles of Austin — from Hyde Park, to Downtown, to Montopolis” — when the Uber-Waymo service launches quickly.
The so-called “curiosity listing” permits customers to obtain Uber updates and bolsters their odds of being matched with a Waymo autonomous automobile upon launch.
The autos that will probably be a part of the Austin service are Jaguar iPace electrical fashions outfitted with Waymo’s driverless programs and labeled with each Waymo and Uber branding.
The Waymo rides in Austin will solely be out there by means of the Uber app, in contrast to in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the place riders hail them by means of the Waymo One app.
Within the face of investor strain to step up its autonomous automobile technique after Tesla promised it could quickly begin producing robotaxis, Uber final yr mentioned it had begun testing a ride-hailing app with a few of its workers.
Whereas Tesla doesn’t make autos which can be secure to make use of with no human driver on the wheel, able to steer or brake always, Elon Musk’s automaker in January mentioned it would “start launching” a driverless ride-hailing enterprise “later this yr” beginning in Austin.
Based on the Texas Division of Transportation, testing and working a industrial robotaxi service within the state doesn’t require the identical forms of particular licenses and permits that different states require.
“Texas regulation permits for AV testing and operations on Texas roadways so long as they meet the identical security and insurance coverage necessities as each different automobile on the highway,” a spokesperson for the division advised CNBC by e-mail.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is anticipated to debate the influence of automated driving programs — or self-driving automobiles — on the corporate’s general enterprise and technique on a fourth-quarter earnings name on Wednesday.