Uber’s Ambitious Journey Towards an Autonomous Vehicle Empire: Meet the Visionaries Driving the Initiative

Over the past two years, Uber has formed partnerships with more than 30 companies in the autonomous vehicle sector, which highlights a global strategy involving substantial financial commitments.

TechCrunch aggregates these developments in one place, but first, let’s explore some contextual information.

Traditionally, Uber focused on developing its own self-driving technologies. Established in 2014 by former CEO Travis Kalanick, the Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) combined expertise from Carnegie Mellon University’s renowned robotics program.

In 2016, Uber broadened its vision by acquiring Otto, a self-driving truck startup co-founded by ex-Google engineer Anthony Levandowski, which led to trials of autonomous vehicles in California, Pittsburgh, and Arizona.

However, the path was fraught with challenges, including a trade secrets lawsuit from Waymo, Kalanick’s resignation in 2017, and a tragic incident in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018, where an autonomous Volvo XC90 fatally struck a pedestrian. Consequently, Uber halted its tests, restructured its strategy, and faced difficulties in regaining momentum.

With Dara Khosrowshahi stepping in as CEO, Uber took a fresh look at its strategy.

By 2020, Uber refocused on its core services like ride-hailing and food delivery, scaling back on intense autonomous vehicle initiatives. It sold Uber ATG to Aurora, Jump to Lime, and Elevate to Joby Aviation, while retaining equity in these companies.

Fast forward two years, Uber is re-entering the autonomous vehicle arena with a notable increase in contracts expected to kick off in 2024. TechCrunch will consistently update a thorough list as Uber continues to progress in this domain.

Aurora

After transferring its ATG unit to Aurora in 2020, Uber has maintained a partnership with Aurora, accumulating shares it continues to hold. As of April 2024, Uber, via Neben Holdings, reported ownership of 325.97 million Aurora Class A shares, representing a 19.7% equity stake and 6.9% voting rights according to SEC filings.

In June 2024, Uber Freight, the logistics division that separated from Uber, revealed a long-term partnership with Aurora, building upon previous trial projects. By May 2025, both companies confirmed that Aurora’s autonomous trucks successfully carried out round-trip deliveries between Dallas and Houston using the Uber Freight platform.

Autobrains

In June 2026, Autobrains and Uber unveiled plans to initiate a robotaxi service in Munich, pending regulatory approvals. Details regarding the specific vehicles involved are still under wraps. The companies proposed an OEM-agnostic strategy, equipping vehicles with Autobrains’ AI-driven driving system based on Nvidia’s Drive Hyperion platform. Access to these robotaxis will be through the Uber app.

Avomo

Formerly known as Moove Cars, the European company Avomo serves as a partner for autonomous fleet management. In 2021, Uber acquired a 30% equity stake in Avomo.

While Avomo may not be widely recognized, it plays a crucial role in Uber’s autonomous vehicle strategies. The company manages fleet services such as maintenance, vehicle inspections, cleaning, and charging for the Waymo-Uber partnership in Austin. Additionally, Avomo oversees fleet operations for a robotaxi service partnership with WeRide in Madrid, announced in June 2026.

It’s important to differentiate Avomo (formerly Moove Cars) from Moove, an African company responsible for managing Waymo’s AV fleet in Phoenix.

Avride

Avride, a spinoff from Yandex and currently part of Nebius Group, entered a long-term partnership with Uber in October 2024 to incorporate Avride’s sidewalk delivery robots and autonomous vehicles into Uber Eats and ride-hailing services.

By February 2025, Uber announced that autonomous sidewalk robots were already delivering Uber Eats orders in Austin and Dallas in collaboration with Avride, as noted in its fourth-quarter earnings report. By the fall of 2025, Avride secured $375 million in strategic investments and commitments from both Uber and Nebius, though specific financial terms remain undisclosed.

As of late 2025, Avride’s robotaxis, based on Hyundai IONIQ 5 models featuring Avride’s self-driving technology, were made available via the Uber app in Dallas. In May 2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into Avride following several incidents, including one that resulted in a minor injury.

As of last June, these vehicles still required a human safety operator to be onboard and were not fully autonomous.

Baidu

In July 2025, Uber revealed a multi-year strategic alliance with Baidu to deploy thousands of Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform in markets outside of the U.S. and mainland China, starting with Asia and the Middle East later that year.

By the end of 2025, Baidu expressed plans to test Apollo Go robotaxis in London during the first half of 2026 through its partnership with Uber. However, as of June, these tests had not yet started.

Cartken

Starting its partnership with Uber in 2022, Cartken focused on food deliveries in Miami, intending to expand to additional cities in 2023. The collaboration was also broadened for commercial deliveries in Fairfax, Virginia, within the same year. By February 2025, they began deploying Cartken’s robots for food deliveries in Osaka, Japan.

By summer 2025, Cartken shifted its focus to industrial robots, indicating that, while it would maintain support for last-mile delivery services, it had no further expansion plans.

Coco

In 2024, Uber and Coco joined forces, integrating Coco’s sidewalk robots into Uber Eats deliveries, starting in Los Angeles and expanding into neighborhoods in Miami by April 2025.

Cruise

In August 2024, a strategic partnership was established between Uber and GM’s Cruise, aiming to integrate Cruise’s robotaxis into the Uber app by 2025. This collaboration became essential for Cruise, especially after facing significant challenges, such as layoffs and the departure of its co-founders following a pedestrian incident in October 2023 involving a Cruise robotaxi.

Unfortunately, Cruise’s ambitious plans did not come to fruition. By December 2024, GM decided to shut down Cruise’s robotaxi division due to financial difficulties and heightened competition, merging it into its engineering operations.

As Cruise no longer operates as a robotaxi entity, the partnership with Uber has effectively concluded, despite earlier strong ties.

Flytrex

In September 2025, Uber announced a partnership with Flytrex, a drone delivery service, accompanied by a minor investment, details of which remain confidential.

Hertz

Although Hertz is not primarily focused on autonomous vehicle technology, its contribution is important. In April 2023, Uber entered into strategic fleet agreements with Hertz and its affiliate Oro Mobility.

Through this collaboration, Uber aims to offer a premium robotaxi service featuring Lucid vehicles equipped with Nuro’s autonomous technology. Hertz will be responsible for essential fleet operations such as maintenance, repairs, charging, and staffing.

Lucid

Uber has made substantial investments in Lucid Motors, announcing plans in 2025 to establish a premium robotaxi service utilizing Lucid vehicles designed for autonomous driving. Initially, Uber allocated $300 million and intended to order at least 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs over six years, implementing Nuro’s self-driving technology.

In April, Uber increased its investment by an additional $200 million, raising its total order to 35,000 vehicles, including Lucid’s upcoming mid-sized platform. Currently, Uber owns over an 11% stake in Lucid, reinforced by its investments and vehicle orders.

May Mobility

In May 2025, Michigan-based startup May Mobility and Uber reached an agreement to operate May’s autonomous vehicles through the Uber app by the end of the year, commencing in Arlington, Texas.

They also expressed aspirations to expand across various U.S. markets by 2026, intending to introduce “thousands of AVs” in the coming years, according to the startup.

As of June, Arlington remains the only location where riders can book May Mobility vehicles via the Uber app.

Mercedes

In January 2023, Mercedes-Benz announced a partnership with Nvidia to create a robotaxi ecosystem utilizing self-driving S-Class sedans within the Uber ride-hailing framework. Details on the rollout across cities are still forthcoming.

Momenta

In May 2025, the Chinese autonomous driving technology firm Momenta formalized a partnership with Uber to integrate its robotaxis into the app, with an anticipated launch in Europe in early 2026 featuring human safety operators.

Subsequent updates in September 2025 revealed plans to test robotaxis in Munich, Germany, in 2026.

Motional

Motional, a Hyundai division, has been collaborating with Uber since 2021, initially focusing on autonomous deliveries in Santa Monica. However, that initiative was classified as a pilot and did not reach full commercialization.

In October 2022, the partnership expanded into a 10-year operational agreement aiming for rollouts in major North American cities, with Las Vegas and Los Angeles as the initial targets. Nevertheless, a fully driverless service (without human operators) has yet to materialize.

After a restructuring in 2024 to concentrate on AI technologies, Motional’s self-driving Hyundai Ioniq 5 vehicles began operating on the Uber app in Las Vegas in March 2026, still overseen by human safety drivers.

New Horizon

New Horizon is a fleet management company facilitating Uber’s collaboration with Baidu, supporting the rollout of the Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing service in Dubai.

Nissan

In March 2023, as part of Uber’s partnership with Wayve, Nissan announced plans to incorporate self-driving Nissan Leaf EVs into the Uber network in Tokyo, leveraging Wayve’s technology. (Refer to the Wayve section for further details.)

Nuro

Nuro initially collaborated with Uber in 2022 to create a custom delivery vehicle. They formed a 10-year plan to launch autonomous deliveries in Mountain View, California, and Houston starting that fall.

However, Nuro shifted from delivery vehicles to licensing its self-driving technology to automotive manufacturers and robotaxi operators. Continuing their partnership, Uber announced a significant arrangement in 2025 for a premium robotaxi service using Lucid Gravity SUVs powered by Nuro’s autonomous technology.

San Francisco is set to be the first city for this service, followed by Houston, as of June. Uber’s financial involvement with Nuro, encompassing its investment in the Series E funding as well as future milestone-linked funding, is estimated to be roughly $500 million.

Nvidia

Uber first publicly acknowledged its partnership with Nvidia in January 2018 during a transitional phase for both firms. Nvidia was designated to supply AI computing resources for Uber’s internal self-driving software, but this partnership ended with the divestiture of Uber’s AV program in 2020.

At CES 2025, Uber unveiled plans to employ Nvidia’s generative world model simulation tool, Cosmos, and its cloud-based AI supercomputing platform, DGX Cloud, to enhance its AV technology development. Specific applications of these tools were not clarified at that time.

In October 2025, Uber expressed intentions to expedite its robotaxi program by utilizing Nvidia’s Hyperion autonomous platform. Stellantis committed to providing a minimum of 5,000 Nvidia Drive-powered vehicles for Uber’s operations, marking a notable first among automotive manufacturers.

In March of this year, Uber and Nvidia enhanced their partnership to deploy a unified global fleet of Nvidia-driven autonomous vehicles, starting with launches in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the first half of 2027 and aiming for 28 cities worldwide by 2028. The vehicles will operate on Nvidia’s Drive Hyperion platform and incorporate Alpamayo, a suite of open-source AI models and tools crafted for complex driving scenarios.

Pony.ai

Pony.ai, a Guangzhou-based company, collaborated with Uber in May 2025, concentrating on the Middle East and intending to launch a pilot program for Pony.ai’s robotaxis (with a safety operator present) via the Uber app later that same year.

In March 2026, Uber, Pony.ai, and Croatian firm Verne outlined plans to establish a commercial robotaxi service in Europe, starting in Zagreb. Pony.ai will provide the autonomous driving technology, offering a robotaxi called the Arcfox Alpha T5 developed alongside BAIC, while Verne will manage fleet ownership and operations. Uber will facilitate ride-hailing through its established network.

Rivian

A surprising announcement in March 2026 could yield up to $1.25 billion for Rivian. The deal involves Rivian creating numerous robotaxis based on its new R2 SUV, which features a self-driving system currently under development.

Uber invested $300 million in Rivian, aiming to secure 10,000 fully autonomous R2 robotaxis ahead of their planned launch in San Francisco and Miami by 2028. Both companies are targeting the deployment of robotaxis in “25 cities across the U.S., Canada, and Europe by the end of 2031.” This fleet will be available exclusively through the Uber platform.

Serve Robotics

Emerging from Uber’s acquisition of Postmates in 2020, Serve Robotics specializes in sidewalk delivery robots. The following year, the robotics division, Postmates X, became an independent entity and rebranded as Serve Robotics.

Uber has also invested in Serve, which went public in 2024 after merging with a SPAC. Serve Robotics’ delivery robots have been deployed for Uber Eats across various U.S. locations for several years.

Starship Technologies

In November 2025, Starship Technologies, known for its sidewalk delivery robots, announced a partnership with Uber Eats, allowing Starship robots to handle food deliveries across several European countries starting in 2026, with plans for expansion into the U.S. in 2027.

Stellantis

In June 2026, Stellantis announced a joint venture with self-driving startup Wayve and Uber to collaboratively develop and deploy driverless robotaxis. Stellantis and Wayve, both receiving investments from Uber, had previously partnered to integrate the automaker’s self-driving technologies into its ride-hailing network.

The parties involved are committed to cooperating on the integration, testing, and validation of vehicles equipped with Wayve’s technology before deploying them across Europe and North America.

Tawasul

Operating out of the UAE, Tawasul partnered with Uber in 2024 to provide fleet management services for the WeRide robotaxi initiative in Abu Dhabi.

Torc Robotics

Uber Freight, which evolved from Uber in 2018, collaborated with Torc Robotics, a self-driving truck company acquired by Daimler in 2019, in late December. The partnership mainly focuses on data analysis.

Torc has utilized Uber Freight to analyze shipping volume patterns and networks, among other data, to determine effective lanes and suitable commercial applications for deploying autonomous trucking solutions.

Verne

The Uber-Verne partnership is relatively new. Established by Mate Rimac of the Rimac Group, the collaboration was announced in March 2026, with intentions to launch a commercial robotaxi service in Europe, beginning in Zagreb, Croatia. Alongside Pony.ai, which provides the autonomous driving technology, Verne will manage and operate the fleet produced by BAIC.

Uber is expected to invest in Verne, with specific terms yet to be disclosed.

Volkswagen/MOIA

Volkswagen’s MOIA America partnered with Uber, announcing plans to introduce a commercial robotaxi service utilizing autonomous Volkswagen ID. Buzz minivans by 2025. This service is scheduled for deployment in various U.S. cities over the next decade, with Los Angeles being the first indicated location.

In April 2026, both companies founded a joint facility in Los Angeles to oversee daily fleet operations, indicating that the robotaxi service aims to launch within the same year, primarily supervised by human safety operators. Full autonomous operations are expected to begin in 2027.

Volvo Autonomous Solutions

After initially collaborating in 2023, Uber Freight reaffirmed its commitment to delivering tangible results with Volvo Autonomous Solutions in 2025.

Volvo’s VNL Autonomous truck—equipped with redundancies for self-driving technology developed by Aurora Innovation—has begun transporting goods for Uber Freight clients between Dallas and Houston, with routes expanding since.

Waabi

Uber’s collaboration with Waabi carries special importance. CEO Raquel Urtasun, formerly chief scientist at Uber’s AV division, established Waabi in 2021 with a focus on self-driving trucks. Uber supported Waabi’s $83.5 million Series A funding round.

The partnership strengthened in 2026 when Waabi raised $1 billion—consisting of $750 million from a Series C round and roughly $250 million in milestone-based funding from Uber for deploying robotaxis using Waabi’s self-driving technologies.

Waymo

Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, initially established its connection with Uber in May 2023 to integrate some of its robotaxis onto the Uber platform, starting in Phoenix. Nonetheless, the collaboration is somewhat limited, as Waymo’s clients can also request robotaxis through its own application.

The partnership expanded to Austin and Atlanta in the following year, but access to Waymo’s robotaxis via Uber’s app remained confined to these three cities. Services initiated in Austin in March 2025 and in Atlanta by June 2025.

Regrettably, the partnership has declined; both companies dissolved their collaboration in Phoenix last month, while Waymo is preparing to withdraw from its agreement with Uber, which remains active until May 2028.

Wayve

Innovative UK startup Wayve has secured a partnership and investment from Uber. During a funding round in February 2026, Wayve raised $1.2 billion, with contributions from returning investors like Microsoft and Nvidia, in addition to Uber. Total funding could occur up to $1.5 billion, including an additional $300 million from Uber contingent on launching robotaxis starting in London.

In March 2026, efforts to incorporate self-driving Nissan Leaf EVs into Uber’s network in Tokyo, utilizing Wayve’s technology, were outlined, with a pilot launch expected in late 2026. This collaboration includes integrating Wayve’s AI-driven self-driving software into a Nissan Leaf, aimed at functioning on Uber’s ride-hailing network in Japan.

WeRide

WeRide, a robotaxi service from China, is notably one of Uber’s engaged partners. Their alliance was disclosed in September 2024, aiming to integrate WeRide robotaxis into the Uber platform, starting in Abu Dhabi. This service launched in December 2024, operating with human safety operators and transitioning to full autonomy in November 2025. By late 2025, WeRide’s robotaxis were also accessible via the Uber app in Dubai.

Uber seeks to expand this partnership, with plans to integrate WeRide’s autonomous vehicles in at least 15 additional cities by 2030, encompassing several locations across Europe. In those areas, WeRide’s robotaxis will be available through the Uber app, with Uber managing fleet operations. Following this initiative, Uber increased its investment in WeRide by $100 million, targeting cities such as Madrid and Zurich as potential rollout sites.

In February 2026, Uber and WeRide agreed to deploy at least 1,200 robotaxis throughout the Middle East, covering Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Riyadh, expected to be operational by 2027.

Zoox

Zoox, a company owned by Amazon, later partnered with Uber’s initiatives. The two organizations announced a strategic collaboration in March 2026 to roll out Zoox robotaxis within the Uber app in Las Vegas this year, with plans to expand into Los Angeles by 2027.