Waymo’s Expansion Exposes Uber’s Robotaxi Risk and Opens the Door for Lyft

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Zoox Las Vegas pricing, Waymo’s post-Uber divorce Phoenix expansion and WeRide saying the quiet part out loud, regulatory permits can create moats.

Zoox launched paid rides in Las Vegas with a $12 base fare, $1.50 per mile, and 40 cents per minute, premium pricing paired with 15 to 30 minute wait times and select destinations. Walt calls it a Disney ride, not a premium product, and once Waymo and Tesla enter the market, that pricing gets hard to defend, especially if wait times continue to be high.

Staying in Vegas, Waymo announced a dedicated pickup and drop-off zone with Allegiant Stadium while Zoox has a deal with the Sphere, which might cost riders a $40 drop-off fee, opening a new battleground in Vegas where every casino and venue deal becomes a potential competitive advantage.

Weeks after Waymo and Uber divorced in Phoenix, Waymo added 55 square miles of service area, increasing the total to 350 square miles. On the WeRide earnings call, management said the quiet part our loud, regulatory permits are an asset.

Over in Europe, OMEGA uncovered a Waymo incorporation in Zurich registered to Google’s largest engineering office outside the United States, one week after the president of Switzerland rode in a Waymo in Mountain View.

On the Foreign Autonomy Desk, Uber and Wayve are preparing a supervised Tokyo launch with Nissan LEAF vehicles, with the word supervised buried in the last paragraph of the press release.

Episode Chapters

• 00:00 Zoox Launches Paid Rides in Las Vegas
• 07:19 Fleet Fragmentation and the Lyft Opportunity
• 11:24 Waymo’s Dedicated Zone at Allegiant Stadium
• 19:16 Waymo Adds 55 Square Miles in Phoenix
• 21:07 Waymo’s Upcoming European Expansion
• 24:06 WeRide Earnings
• 28:06 Mercedes, NVIDIA, and the Compute Question
• 31:44 Uber Serve Robotics Divorce
• 40:47 7,200 Waymo Vehicles
• 44:03 Foreign Autonomy Desk
• 47:56 Next Week