From TechCrunch · Kirsten Korosec · · 3m
Lyft finally has a robotaxi to sell
Waymo cars just showed up in the Lyft app in Nashville, four years after Lyft sold off its own self-driving unit.
In brief
Waymo cars just showed up in the Lyft app in Nashville, four years after Lyft sold off its own self-driving unit. Lyft's route back into autonomy is as the operator, not the inventor: it runs the depots and the demand while someone else builds the driver. Originally reported by TechCrunch.
Waymo lands in the Lyft app
Waymo robotaxis went live on Lyft in Nashville this week, the first time driverless cars have been bookable through Lyft's own app.
Lyft does the unglamorous part
Through its Flexdrive subsidiary, Lyft handles vehicle readiness, maintenance, depot operations and infrastructure for the Nashville fleet.
Two apps, one fleet
Riders can hail a Waymo directly in the Waymo app, or take their chances in Lyft, which matches them to a Waymo when one is free.
Not its first attempt
Lyft has circled autonomy for years through Aptiv (now Motional) in Las Vegas, May Mobility in Atlanta, Baidu in London and Waymo in Phoenix.
The first truly driverless one
Nashville matters because it is Lyft's first commercial robotaxi service with no human operator sitting behind the wheel.
The $550 million retreat
Lyft spent four years and millions building its own AV tech in its Level 5 division, then sold the unit to Toyota's Woven Planet for $550 million in 2021.
A pause, not a exit
After the sale Lyft stepped back from autonomy to fix its core ride-hailing business, but never wrote the technology off.
Next year gets bigger
Growth EVP Jeremy Bird, who runs international, luxury and AV plans, wouldn't name new cities but promised more partners and more markets in 2027.
“I think next year will be a big year for us.”
London is the other bet
Lyft entered 2026 focused on Waymo in Nashville and Baidu in London, where commercial service still hasn't launched. Bird calls London a fascinating market.
Regulation picks the map
Lyft now favors markets where AVs are already legal and where it can run a hybrid network of robotaxis and human drivers from day one.
“Is it a market where AVs are already open regulatorily, or that would put that market up higher on our list”
Ford hires defense people
Ford brought in alumni of Raytheon, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin's generative AI team. Three hires isn't a strategy, but defense experience is clearly trading higher.
The UAE funds the tunnels
The Boring Company raised $3 billion led by the UAE at a $23 billion valuation, and will dig another 150 kilometers of tunnel in the country.
Money moved everywhere else
Kenya's ARC Ride took $33.3 million, autonomous shuttle operator Beep raised $20 million led by Mobileye, and Stoke Space pulled in $1 billion.
Google Maps for the battlefield
Tern, an Austin startup building a GPS alternative, won an $11.26 million U.S. Army contract to guide military vehicles.
“Google Maps for the battlefield”
Kalanick wants back in
Travis Kalanick's startup Atoms is staffing up to chase the robotaxi business, per the Financial Times. Meanwhile EV subscription service Autonomy is adding gas cars to survive.
The action isn't only American
Pony.ai and Verne started driverless rides in Zagreb, Spain issued its first national AV permits to WeRide, Uber and Avomo, and Pony.ai dropped safety drivers in Doha.
At a glance
Lyft's route back into autonomy is as the operator, not the inventor: it runs the depots and the demand while someone else builds the driver.
