Uber Invests $10 Billion in Autonomous Robotaxi Fleets

Uber Technologies Inc. is transitioning away from its asset-light gig economy model by committing more than $10 billion to acquire autonomous vehicle fleets and equity stakes in robotaxi developers. This investment includes approximately $2.5 billion in equity and over $7.5 billion for fleets, with the goal of launching services in at least 28 cities by 2028. To support this shift, the company plans to purchase 35,000 self-driving cars through an expanded partnership with Lucid Motors and is collaborating with Volkswagen's MOIA division to introduce driverless vans to Los Angeles by late 2026.

As part of this strategy, Uber and Nuro have launched a premium robotaxi testing phase in the San Francisco Bay Area. Select employees can currently request rides via the Uber app in modified Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with Nuro's Level 4 autonomy system, which is powered by the Nvidia Drive AGX Thor platform. While the vehicles operate in self-driving mode to evaluate navigation, safety, and user experience, human safety operators remain onboard as a precaution.

This initiative follows a 2025 partnership in which Uber invested $300 million in Lucid and a multi-hundred-million dollar sum into Nuro. Production of the modified robotaxis is expected to begin in late 2026, with a public launch planned for later that year. Uber has also established partnerships with other industry players, including Baidu, Rivian, and Amazon's Zoox, to deploy autonomous services across San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.