Uber changes strategy: betting on partners, not own developments
The history of Uber’s self-driving cars began with a tragedy. In early 2018 in Tempe, Arizona, a self-driving Volvo XC90 being tested by the company struck and killed a cyclist. After this incident, the taxi giant abruptly halted its own autonomous driving program. Since then, Uber has completely changed its approach, striking deals with autonomous technology specialists instead of developing them in-house.
Investment in Nuro: from delivery to robotaxis
One of Uber’s biggest bets is the company Nuro. Founded in mid-2016 by two former Google engineers, it initially focused on small autonomous vehicles for delivery. Earlier this year, it became known that Nuro is collaborating with Lucid and Uber to deploy a huge fleet of robotaxis in the US. Under this deal, Uber invested $500 million in Nuro.
The money came in stages. Uber first joined Nuro’s $203 million funding round in late 2025, valuing the startup at $6 billion. Later, Nuro achieved several key development and commercialization milestones, prompting Uber to dig deeper into its pockets, Reuters reports.
Further funding depends on Nuro achieving the following goals: testing vehicles without a safety driver behind the wheel, starting to transport real passengers in its robotaxis, and expanding the service in 2027.
Technical basis and other partnerships
The vehicles in Nuro’s robotaxi fleet will be specially equipped versions of the Lucid Gravity SUV. They are equipped with the Level 4 autonomous system Nuro Driver, which runs on the Nvidia Drive AGX Thor automotive computer.
Uber is not putting all its eggs in one basket. The company separately committed to investing $500 million in Lucid as part of this robotaxi project, and also pledged to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian by 2031 to create another robotaxi fleet, this time based on the new mid-size electric SUV R2. This fleet could number up to 50,000 vehicles, with 10,000 of them planned for deployment in the first phase starting in 2028.
Such a diversification strategy allows Uber to minimize the risks associated with developing its own technologies and simultaneously gain access to the advanced developments of several companies. Partnerships with Nuro, Lucid, and Rivian indicate that the company is betting on different platforms and approaches to autonomous driving, which could secure its leadership in the robotaxi market in the future, despite an unsuccessful start in this field.