Robotaxi Race: Who Will Screw Up Your Ride With No Driver First?
KEY POINTS
- •Waymo served over 14 million driverless rides in 2025, tripling their previous year's total and expanding to Austin and Atlanta.
- •Tesla launched a robotaxi service in Austin in June 2025, currently operating 31 active vehicles and aiming for full driverless operation by year-end.
- •Uber partnered with startups like Avride to introduce driverless taxis with safety drivers in Dallas and plans for thousands of autonomous minivans in LA next year.
In 2025, the robotaxi wars have officially entered the 'Hey, let’s see who can make crashes go viral first' phase. Google-backed Waymo bragged about 14 million trips, tripling last year's nap-level numbers while expanding to Austin and Atlanta and even teasing a London invasion. Uber quit making its own cars in 2020 but now dances with startups to conquer driverless markets, calling it a 'trillion-dollar-plus' jackpot—because who doesn’t want a robot servant? Tesla jumped inJune with 31 vehicles in Austin, promising fully driverless rides on freeways by year-end, though safety drivers cling on for dear life. Meanwhile, license rules keep Tesla grounded in California, so their robotaxis are still chauffeur-supervised. Uber partners with startups, Zoox offers toaster-shaped rides in San Francisco under a waitlist, and Lyft uses Michigan’s May Mobility for some more autonomous hodgepodge. With plans to add at least six more cities including Miami, DC, Vegas, and San Diego in 2026 plus Tesla’s Cybercab with no steering wheel coming in April, it’s a fiesta of partially driverless chaos waiting to hijack your commute.
Share the Story
We’re now in a world where 14 million people willingly let a Google robot chauffeur them, but yell at a human for texting. Progress is weird.
Tesla’s robotaxis have 31 cars in Austin and zero chill as they race to drop safety drivers—because nothing says ‘trust me’ like billionaire deadlines.
If you think humans were bad drivers, wait ‘til Waymo takes your ride on a freeway expansion tour while Uber partners with startups to outsource blame.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 12/24/2025 | Author: Tom Carter
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