A political and lobbying battle is unfolding in Washington, D.C. over a proposed bill that would allow autonomous vehicles to operate in the city, with Uber and Waymo now firmly on opposing sides. Uber opposes the bill, arguing it would displace human for-hire drivers and effectively hand Waymo a monopoly, and is instead pushing for robotaxis to be required to operate on ride-hailing networks alongside human drivers. Waymo, by contrast, is one of the few companies broadly supportive of the proposed legislation, putting the two former partners at odds over how the industry should be regulated.

A D.C. Council hearing on Monday brought together Lyft, Tesla, Uber and Waymo alongside disability rights groups, industry bodies, safety organisations, unions and think tanks. Much of the industry, including Tesla, objects to provisions such as a 180-day, 250,000-mile mandatory testing period, a $1 million application fee, a $5 million permit fee and a $0.15-per-mile tax, and wants testing miles from other jurisdictions to count towards the threshold. Waymo has already exceeded the testing requirements through its existing D.C. operations, meaning it would enter the market with at least a six-month head start if the bill passes as written. Separately, Uber is expanding its delivery business through a $14.8 billion deal to acquire Delivery Hero, which would roughly double its delivery footprint across nearly 100 markets.