When I think about autonomous ride-sharing companies, I think about Waymo, Uber and Tesla in that order. Alphabet’s autonomy play is the clear technology leader, with thousands of driverless cars already transporting paying passengers. Uber has been working on developing both the hardware and business side of the problem for a decade. And Tesla has bet the farm on its low-cost, vision-based platform, with mixed results.
Lyft, on the other hand, is barely in the conversation. The company had a short-lived and tiny partnership with Waymo back in 2019, and some sporadic efforts since, but it is clearly behind its chief rival. The company knows this and has been scrambling to address its weakness.
It partnered up with a little-known upstart, May Mobility, to roll out self-driving Toyota Sienna minivans (with a safety operator) in Atlanta this month. It’s inked a deal with the Chinese tech giant Baidu for a European pilot program. Lyft CEO David Risher has said Mobileye-powered cars would hit the app in Dallas in 2026. But today’s news is the biggest: Customers in Nashville, Tennessee, will soon be able to order Waymos directly through their Lyft app.
Lyft also has an autonomous pilot program with May Mobility, an autonomous vehicle startup.
Photo by: Lyft
This is a coup for Lyft, as Waymo has begun to lean heavily on Uber to operate its ride-hailing service. While Waymo has the undisputed best autonomous vehicle tech, and it does operate its own ride-hailing service in markets like San Fransisco and Los Angeles, its goal isn’t necessarily to replace Lyft or Uber. Its product is the “Waymo Driver,” and it seems ready to sell it to anyone looking to make their fleet autonomous. Like many Alphabet brands (including Google), its strategy seems to be betting on every horse.
Having both major ride-hailing apps as partners is certainly a win for Waymo. But it’s arguably more important for Lyft. Uber not only has a longer (albeit checkered) history with autonomous vehicles, it has far more partners, too. Here’s a list of partners for autonomous driving and delivery from Uber’s website:
There are quite a few big names on this list.
Photo by: Uber
The company bet big on partnerships. That’s in part because its in-house autonomous vehicle program ended in disaster back in 2018, when a prototype struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. The company shelved its plans to develop its own autonomous platform, focusing instead on commercializing and managing the ride-hailing aspect while farming out the technology work to its partners. Given that users can already order autonomous Waymos on the Uber app in both Atlanta and Austin, it seems to be paying off.
Uber is also partnering with Volkswagen to deploy autonomous ID. Buzz electric vans throughout the U.S.
Photo by: Volkswagen
Lyft is now joining the fray. The company said Wednesday that users in Nasvhille will be able to hail autonomous Waymos in 2026. But if you want to get one of the first autonomous rides in Music City, don’t rely on the Lyft app alone. The companies say that autonomous ride-hailing will first be available on the Waymo One app before the vehicles are added to the Lyft network. Both companies likely want to verify that everything is working properly in the city before introducing autonomous taxis to a much larger user pool.
It’s a solid step for Lyft. But if the company wants to be a leader in autonomy, it’ll have to keep expanding its partnerships and pilot programs, all while racing against competitors that certainly aren’t slowing down. It’s not clear who will lead in the autonomous taxi era, but it’s never been closer to reality.
Contact the author: Mack.Hogan@insideevs.com
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