Uber just hit the gas on its robotaxi dreams, and it is not skimping on the ride. The ride-hailing giant announced it’s investing hundreds of millions of dollars into EV maker Lucid and self-driving startup Nuro, with a plan to roll out a fleet of premium autonomous SUVs starting next year. Think less “beater car with an Uber sticker,” more “sci-fi luxury spaceship that drives itself.”
Here is the breakdown of Uber’s drop
- Uber is pumping $300 million into Lucid
- It’s committing to buy at least 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs over six years
- Each one will come loaded with Nuro’s Level 4 autonomous tech, meaning no driver needed (in certain conditions)
- Production is set to start in late 2026, but the first robotaxi service is aiming to launch as early as next year in a major U.S. city
Uber and Nuro have been working on this deal for over a year, testing out early prototypes on a closed track in Las Vegas. The Gravity SUV was an easy pick: it already has the kind of safety redundancies that make integrating self-driving tech a whole lot smoother, a rare find in today’s EV market.
“This was a meaty deal,” said Nuro co-founder Dave Ferguson (yes, that is a technical term). “Uber wanted to go big, and we’re thrilled to be their pick after talking to nearly every AV company out there.”
Uber is playing the long game. Over the past two years, it has stitched together partnerships with more than 18 autonomous vehicle companies globally, from major names like Volkswagen and Waymo, to Chinese AV players such as WeRide, Momenta, and Baidu.
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This new partnership signals a different kind of ambition: not just plugging into someone else’s tech, but building a high-end, fully Uber-owned robotaxi fleet. No middleman, no rented systems. Just sleek Lucids, smart software, and your app.
For Nuro, it’s a much-needed glow-up. The company has raised over $2 billion since launching in 2016, mostly to develop cute low-speed delivery bots. But cute didn’t cut it. After burning through cash and laying off staff in 2022 and 2023, Nuro pivoted hard, ditching delivery to focus on licensing its autonomous tech.
And this Uber deal? It is the proof they needed that pivoting was the right call. Uber is not just hitching a ride on the AV future; it wants to own the front seat. But with billions on the table, a packed AV race, and production still two years away… the question is: Can they deliver a driverless dream before someone else beats them to the curb?
