This Week In Rideshare: Waymo Recalls, Uber vs Waymo, and Robots In Philly
WAYMO RECALLS 3800 ROBOTAXIS
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Waymo is recalling 3800 robotaxis. CNBC reported [https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/12/waymo-recalls-3800-robotaxis-after-able-drive-into-standing-water.html]:
> Waymo is recalling about 3,800 robotaxis in the U.S. to fix software issues that could allow them to “drive onto a flooded roadway,” according to a letter on [https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2026/RCAK-26E026-9973.pdf] the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website.
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> The voluntary recall is for Waymo vehicles that use the company's fifth and sixth generation automated driving systems (or ADS), the U.S. auto safety regulator said in the letter posted Tuesday.
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> Waymo autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas were recently seen on camera driving onto a flooded street and stalling, requiring other drivers to navigate around them. Similar incidents have occurred in other locations, the latest safety-related issues for the Alphabet [https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/GOOGL/]-owned AV unit that's rapidly bolstering its fleet of vehicles and entering new U.S. markets.
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> Waymo has drawn criticism for its vehicles failing to yield to school buses in Austin, and for the performance of its vehicles during widespread power outages [https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/25/waymo-pauses-robotaxis-in-sf-again-due-to-flash-flood-warnings-on-christmas-day.html] in San Francisco in December, when robotaxis halted in traffic, causing gridlock.
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> The company said in a statement on Tuesday that it's “identified an area of improvement regarding untraversable flooded lanes specific to higher-speed roadways,” and opted to file a “voluntary software recall” with the NHTSA.
UBER VS WAYMO
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Uber takes shots at Waymo. Business Insider reported [https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-waymo-partnership-relationship-hybrid-market-2026-5]:
> In recent months, Uber and its executives have taken direct and indirect shots at its robotaxi partner Waymo [https://archive.is/o/zmaY2/https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-autonomous-vehicles-driverless-cancelled-project-catching-up-waymo-tesla-2026-3], warning against autonomous vehicle operators trying to scale on their own while also criticizing Waymo's deployment strategy and technology, with one executive sharing a video on X of a “scary Waymo moment.”
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> The comments portray AV-only operators like Alphabet's Waymo [https://archive.is/o/zmaY2/https://www.businessinsider.com/waymo] as less scalable, less equitable, and less reliable than a hybrid approach — with a mix of human and automated drivers — that makes Uber the AV partner of choice [https://archive.is/o/zmaY2/https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-robotaxi-strategy-deals-partnerships-rivian-waymo-tesla-zoox-2026-3].
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> Taken together, Uber's statements show the delicate role it's trying to play as an arbiter between two competing forces: cities and labor groups skeptical of driverless fleets, and AV companies seeking to usher in a new era of transportation.
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> “Despite the incredible progress AVs are making around the world, and the enormous potential they hold, they are still far from capable of meeting the level of reliability and ubiquity that customers and cities expect,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in February, adding that the AV operators' limits “only serve to reinforce the value of a hybrid network [https://archive.is/o/zmaY2/https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-robotaxi-autonomous-vehicles-expansion-plans-2025-11].”
UBER EATS ROBOTS EXPAND IN PHILLY
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More robots are coming to Philly. Philadelphia Inquirer reported [https://www.inquirer.com/news/uber-eats-avride-food-delivery-expansion-20260515.html]:
> Uber Eats has expanded its autonomous robot delivery service to all restaurants within its designated operation zone in Center City [https://archive.is/o/lc7U4/https://www.inquirer.com/topic/center-city], six restaurants on the platform told The Inquirer.
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> The food delivery service rolled out a small fleet of battery-powered bots in March, with about two dozen restaurants signing up for the pilot. But in recent weeks, restaurateurs who, like Seorabol owner Eunice Cho, do not remember signing up for the program have been instructed by the Uber Eats app to go outside and place orders inside a blinking bot.
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> Alex Lin, chef at Chinese and Japanese restaurant Green Garden, said he started seeing bots picking up orders as early as April despite not having opted in to any programs. Mira Kim, owner of Koreana, said the same, noting sometimes she would see one bot pickup in a day or as many as five.
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> Uber Eats said as part of its pilot, the fleet of autonomous delivery robots would operate within the area bound by Race, Spruce, 18th, and Front Streets. The plan was to eventually add more restaurants in coming months, though the expansion appears to have taken place in a matter of weeks, according to restaurants.
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> The company has emphasized in previous statements that the robots, manufactured by Avride, are not meant to replace humans. The robots can operate up to a two-mile radius, keeping a charge for up to 12 hours. In Philadelphia, the 12th city where the Uber Eats bots have been deployed, they are allowed to operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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