Waymo ramps up in Florida to compete with Tesla, Uber

Google's tech division, Waymo, is determined to keep its lead in the robotaxi rollout, staying ahead of competitors like Tesla and Uber.

On Wednesday, Waymo announced that riders in Miami and Orlando can now order a fully autonomous ride from its app. The company said 150,000 riders participated in its initial rollout in both cities, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Waymo noted that “current and future service areas in Miami and Orlando are built on real-world performance,” adding that extensive preparations have been made for situations such as tropical downpours.

The Google unit’s expansion of its service in Florida comes as the company closed out 2025 having pulled further ahead of competitors, logging roughly 14 million rides by early December. Waymo has also said it now delivers about 500,000 paid robotaxi trips per week across 10 U.S. cities, showing the scale of its rollout.

Uber Gives Waymo a Run for Its Money

However, its rivals are also not resting on their laurels. For instance, Uber is reshaping its asset-light “gig economy” business model by betting on robotaxis with more than $10 billion.

The ride-hailing giant this week topped its investment in EV maker Lucid  by $200 million and plans to purchase at least 35,000 Lucid vehicles for its future robotaxi service. Uber also recently signed a $1.25 billion robotaxi deal with Lucid rival Rivian.

Is Google a Strong Buy?

On Wall Street, Alphabet’s shares continue to boast a Strong Buy consensus rating from analysts. This is based on 25 Buys and five Holds issued by 30 analysts over the past three months.

In addition, the average GOOGL price target of $385.46 implies about 15% upside potential from current trading levels.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli