"Although it has agreements with Waymo and Zoox in secondary markets, the two companies are going it alone in major cities such as San Francisco." [San Francisco]
The quote explicitly contrasts the operators' willingness to use third-party networks (Uber) in secondary markets versus exclusive operation in major cities, demonstrating a deliberate strategy to fragment rather than consolidate through platform intermediaries.
Reasoning from this article
Zoox and Waymo's decision to exclude themselves from Uber's platform in major markets while accepting it in secondary markets reveals a structural shift in autonomous vehicle market strategy. Unlike traditional ride-hailing, where network effects favor consolidation onto a single platform, autonomous vehicle operators are treating their proprietary apps as core competitive assets. This suggests that autonomous vehicle operators view direct consumer data, brand loyalty, and operational control as more valuable than the liquidity gains from platform aggregation. The pattern indicates that autonomous vehicle markets may fragment into competing vertically-integrated ecosystems rather than converging on a single dominant platform.