The deal also brings two once-bitter rivals together. In 2016, Anthony Levandowski, a high-ranking engineer with what was then the Google self-driving car project, left the company to found Otto, an autonomous trucking company, which was quickly acquired by Uber. The acquisition led to Waymo suing Uber in 2017 and accusing Levandowski of stealing the company’s intellectual property.
In 2020, Levandowski pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in prison for trade secret theft related to Google’s self-driving car program. In 2021, he was pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Whether Waymo and Uber’s partnership is a part of a 2018 settlement over Waymo’s suit against Uber is unclear. An Alphabet spokesperson has not responded to a request for comment.
Waymo and Uber’s partnership also comes on the heels of both companies announcing layoffs earlier in the year.
“Uber has long been a leader in human-operated ridesharing, and the pairing of our pioneering technology and all-electric fleet with their customer network provides Waymo with an opportunity to reach even more people,” Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said in Tuesday’s blog post.
Waymo said it now offers more than 10,000 trips per week across Phoenix and San Francisco, not including employee rides. By summer 2024, it intends to expand to 100,000 trips per week, in total, for both markets.
“Uber provides access to a global and reliable marketplace across mobility, delivery, and freight,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in the blog post. “Fully autonomous driving is quickly becoming part of everyday life, and we’re excited to bring Waymo’s incredible technology to the Uber platform.”
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