Key facts
- Uber committed nearly $500 million to self-driving startup Nuro.
- Uber plans to partner with Nuro and Lucid to deploy 35,000 robotaxis.
- Nuro received a California permit to test autonomous vehicles without a safety driver.
- Nuro is expected to launch its service in the San Francisco Bay Area later this year.
- Tesla expanded its unsupervised robotaxi service area in Austin, Texas.
Uber has committed close to $500 million to self-driving startup Nuro, according to sources. This investment underscores the ride-hailing company's push into the commercial robotaxi sector, which is seeing renewed development and deployment from companies like Tesla, Waymo, and Zoox. Uber plans a three-way partnership with Nuro and Lucid to deploy 35,000 robotaxis utilizing Lucid's vehicles and Nuro's autonomous technology on Uber's platform. While Uber previously invested in Nuro at a $6 billion valuation, this new commitment represents a significantly larger follow-on investment. The funds are tied to milestones, including driverless testing later this year and passenger service by year-end, with ramp-up planned for next year. Nuro, which pivoted to licensing its software in 2024, is also backed by Nvidia and SoftBank and is testing with safety drivers, aiming for a San Francisco Bay Area launch this year. The company has received permits for testing autonomous vehicles without safety drivers and for carrying passengers in testing. In parallel, Tesla expanded the coverage area for its unsupervised robotaxis in Austin, Texas, to the entire metro area. However, Tesla has not indicated if it is adding more vehicles to its fleet, which has remained relatively stagnant with around 42 registered cars in the state, compared to Waymo's 619 registered AVs.