The Busiest Ubers In Austin Are Waymos

Plus, I tried out WeRide’s self-driving services for myself.

Welcome to the Ride AI newsletter: your weekly digest of news and intelligence at the intersection of technology and transportation.

In the latest episode of the Ride AI Podcast, we spoke to Lyft’s EVP of Driver Experience, Jeremy Bird, about Lyft’s evolving approach to autonomous vehicles and the future of rideshare. We dive into how Lyft plans to support its diverse driver base—over two million strong annually—by creating new opportunities, such as turning today’s drivers into tomorrow’s AV fleet owners. Plus, we break down the economics of surge pricing, the complexities of fleet ops, and how Lyft compares to competitors like Uber and Waymo. Listen in.

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Now, Here’s What’s Happening

Sophia here. I just released a new video exploring my experience with WeRide in China—part of my mission to try every autonomous vehicle the country has to offer. What makes WeRide particularly interesting is that, to my knowledge, they’re the first company to operate a publicly available, autonomously driven, paid bus line. In the video, I test out both their robobus and robotaxi services… and even get banned from filming while using the robotaxi! Check it out to see how it all went down.

Speaking of WeRide, Guangzhou just granted the company the first-ever robovan testing license in the region, allowing it to test its latest W5 autonomous delivery vehicle—aka the Robovan—on public roads, rather than being limited to closed testing environments.

The Robovan is a Level 4 self-driving vehicle with 5.5 cubic meters (194 cubic feet) of cargo space and a range of 220 km (137 miles). It’s designed primarily for package delivery and point-to-point logistics.

I actually caught one of these in action while filming my WeRide video. It was operating autonomously in an industrial office zone with wide roads. The van I spotted had courier service branding, which suggests WeRide is already partnering with Chinese delivery companies.

Image Credit: Sophia Tung

The people want robots—and the numbers back it up. During Uber’s latest earnings call, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi revealed that the company’s fleet of 100 Waymo vehicles in Austin is busier than 99% of all human drivers on the platform.

That stat gets even more compelling when you factor in an April report from Yipit Data, which showed that Waymo vehicles now account for 20% of all Uber rides in Austin. Since getting matched with a Waymo is opt-in only, this means a substantial share of riders are actively choosing autonomous vehicles over traditional human drivers.

Of course, it’s worth noting the caveats. As The Driverless Digest points out, human drivers are required to take 6-hour breaks every 12 hours on the road. An AV, on the other hand, can theoretically operate up to 22 hours a day, which naturally boosts utilization metrics.

Even so, Uber’s first major foray into AV integration is looking like a clear success. Riders are embracing autonomy—it’s now up to platforms like Uber and Lyft to scale responsibly and blend AVs into their service mix in a way that benefits both consumers and workers.

Hot on the heels of its historic driver-out launch, Aurora has announced plans to expand its autonomous trucking operations to nighttime driving and adverse weather conditions by the second half of 2025. These environments mark a significant next step for the company’s self-driving tech, though Aurora has already tested such conditions with safety drivers on board.

Since kicking off fully driverless operations, Aurora has logged over 4,000 miles hauling freight for its launch partners, and has now scaled up to operating two fully driverless trucks. Looking ahead, the company aims to scale significantly—adding “tens” of autonomous trucks to its fleet by the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, Bot Auto has officially announced plans to begin driver-out operations within the next few months. The company has been testing its fully autonomous trucks between Houston and San Antonio since last fall, and just this past Thursday, presented its vehicles to local transportation and law enforcement officials in Houston.

According to Jeremy Desel, a spokesperson for Bot Auto, the company is now preparing to take the next major step by removing safety drivers entirely.

With Aurora already on the road and Bot Auto close behind, the era of driverless freight is finally taking shape. After years of development, testing, and speculation, the autonomous driving industry is beginning to deliver on its long-promised potential.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Bot Auto CEO Xiaodi Hou recently—one of the most enjoyable interviews I’ve done—and learned that autonomous trucking isn’t just about the tech. The trucking industry is facing a historic labor shortage, with too few new drivers entering the workforce to meet growing demand. AVs could help fill that gap, lowering costs and ultimately bringing price relief to consumers. If this trajectory continues, it’s hard not to see it as a win-win—for the industry, for logistics, and for the rest of us.

Image Credit: Bot Auto

Tesla’s bid to trademark the term “robotaxi” in connection with its upcoming Cybercab has hit a wall. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) denied the application, reasoning that the term is “too generic”—i.e. already widely used by other companies to describe similar services.

Tesla had hoped to secure the trademark for a wide range of use cases, including coordinating travel arrangements, ridesharing services, and vehicle sharing platforms. But the USPTO ruled that “robotaxi” is a descriptive industry term, not a unique brand identifier.

The company also filed for a trademark on “Cybercab”, but that too has been paused due to ongoing applications by others, including a company producing aftermarket Cybertruck accessories. Meanwhile, trademark filings for “Robobus”—another term Tesla is pursuing—are still under examination.

Importantly, the “robotaxi” denial was issued as a nonfinal office action, giving Tesla three months to appeal. However, to succeed, the company will need to present clear plans for the term’s use and argue why Tesla should have exclusive rights to it.

My take? The USPTO is right to reject “robotaxi.” That ship sailed years ago—long before Tesla’s Cybercab reveal, back when Waymo was still an X moonshot project at Google. The term is now firmly embedded in the industry lexicon, from Silicon Valley to Shenzhen. It’s too late to lay an exclusive claim to it.

In Other News…

• Waymo announces Boston and Dallas as next roadtrip destinations

• Aurora co-founder Sterling Anderson leaves the autonomous trucking startup right after its major launch

• Amazon’s Zoox to scale up robotaxi production for US expansion

• Also, recent Las Vegas crash prompts Zoox to issue software recall

Alright, that’s it from me… until next week!