Recently, the self-driving car service Waymo entered the Phoenix taxi market. This is a company owned by Google which is seen as a rival to the likes of Uber – but there is a big catch. Here, Waymo uses self-driving cars to get about, which changes the user experience drastically. Although this may seem very futuristic to some, it turns out that the future is very much in the present at Phoenix, as Waymo recently upped their rides in the city as well.

As seen in the image below, there is literally no driver, as this is a driverless car experience. Secondly, it also has a playlist that can be synced to your Spotify account, which is a pretty cool feature. The Phoenix user who used Waymo seemed incredibly pleased with his experience too, “First Waymo bro. This is Waymo better than Uber.”

Now, here’s where it gets troublesome for Uber drivers. Firstly, it is supposedly more accurate in terms of pick-up, as there’s no physical driver to accept or decline a ride. Secondly, it is cheaper for shorter rides as there’s no tipping required. On similar grounds, early reports claim that it’s also typically cheaper than Uber too.

However, we shouldn’t be praising our new robot overlords just yet. It turns out that this is still very much a new experiment, and Waymo cars cannot drive on highways. In other words, for longer-distance journeys, you’re probably better off taking an Uber.

At the same time, this genuinely spells trouble for Uber drivers – not just in Phoenix but throughout the USA. Apparently, there are 3.5 million Uber drivers in the US, who may be fighting for survival if Waymo pushes itself into the market.