Uber launches Autonomous Solutions division to become the service layer for robotaxi fleets

Uber's new autonomous vehicle division is about survival and opportunity | TechCrunch

Uber has a pitch for autonomous vehicle makers: we got this. The ride-hailing and food delivery company has launched a new division called Uber Autonomous Solutions designed to take on all the tasks associated with operating a robotaxi, self-driving truck, or sidewalk delivery robot business, including software and support services. The initiative, announced Monday, formalizes what Uber has been not so quietly working on for several years now. Uber has amassed partnerships with nearly two dozen autonomous vehicle technology companies across every use case from robotaxis and trucking to sidewalk delivery robots and drones. Uber has backed many of these companies -- Lucid and Nuro, Waabi, and China's WeRide -- invested $100 million to build fast-charging, autonomous-vehicle charging stations, and even launched Uber AV Labs, a specialized engineering team that will gather data for robotaxi partners. Uber has made the partnerships and investments; now it wants to make itself indispensable. "AV tech teams should be able to focus on what they do best: building software that can safely power an autonomous world," said Sarfraz Maredia, Uber's global head of autonomous mobility and delivery, who will be leading the initiative. The idea, he said, is to add "operational depth wherever they need it," including demand generation, rider experience, customer support, or managing the day-to-day fleet operations. The end goal is to help these companies reduce their costs per mile and increase the speed to market. Uber said it plans to help these partners scale robotaxi deployments to more than 15 cities by the end of this year. "What's going to determine the success or failure of autonomous in the world is whether it can be commercialized, and Uber is going to be the thing that makes autonomy commercially viable," Uber President and COO Andrew MacDonald said. For Uber that means handling infrastructure like training data and mapping, fleet financing, regulatory services, and managing how robotaxis and other AVs navigate complex events and venues. The company said it is using a fleet of specially equipped Lucid vehicles to collect data that can be shared with partners so they can train their AI systems. The new division also plans to tackle user experience including customer support. Notably, Uber wants to take over fleet management, which would include remote assistance -- an issue that recently received attention from federal lawmakers over concerns Waymo uses workers overseas. Fleet management would also cover insurance and employing the humans who might need to support these AVs when they're out in the world. Uber's move is both existential and opportunistic. The company sold its in-house AV development unit known as Uber ATG in 2020, following two years of internal struggles and pressure after one of its test vehicles killed a pedestrian. (Uber sold off the division in a complex deal with Aurora.) It has tried to shore up its position through partnerships and investments. And there have been plenty. Uber and Waymo have a shared robotaxi service in Atlanta and Austin. The company has also locked up partnerships with Chinese firms Baidu, Momenta, and Pony.ai, sidewalk delivery bot companies Cartken, Starship, Serve, and the UK-based automated driving tech startup Wayve, as well as robotaxi developers AVride and Motional, to name a few. It has plans to launch a robotaxi service with Volkswagen in Los Angeles by the end of 2026 -- although it won't be driverless until 2027. These do provide Uber with some protection, but it doesn't provide a replacement to any revenue lost if these companies erode its own ride-hailing and food delivery business that is today powered by human drivers. Uber is hoping this new division will.

Uber launches a new division to power robotaxis behind the scenes

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. First look: Uber's latest move suggests it aims to become more than just a ride-hailing and food delivery platform. This week, the company announced a significant expansion into autonomous vehicle infrastructure with the creation of Uber Autonomous Solutions, a new division that will provide the technical and operational backbone for companies deploying robotaxis on its platform and potentially beyond. The San Francisco - based company's new venture is designed to serve as a comprehensive support hub for commercial self-driving fleets. The division will offer a range of services, including insurance coverage, roadside assistance, and "AV mission control" - a software layer that enables fleet operators to monitor vehicles and take corrective action in response to traffic incidents or technical faults. Uber Autonomous Solutions will also provide fleet financing to partners looking to add robotaxis to the network. By bundling these elements under one umbrella, the company aims to lower barriers to entry for autonomous vehicle providers while building a sustainable business model around a service it once only piloted. The unit will report to Sarfraz Maredia, Uber's global head of autonomous mobility and delivery, and will draw talent and resources from multiple departments across the organization. Uber President and COO Andrew Macdonald told the Financial Times that recent engineering advances have eliminated many of the obstacles that slowed autonomous systems for years. The remaining challenge, he said, is commercial execution - turning viable self-driving technology into a profitable business. Uber's involvement in the robotaxi market has accelerated significantly over the past year. The company has struck more than a dozen partnerships, including with Alphabet's Waymo in the United States and Baidu in Asia and the Middle East. It has also invested in several startups, such as UK-based Wayve, and signed supply agreements with developers like Waabi. Last month, Uber invested $500 million in Waabi and placed an order for at least 25,000 of its autonomous vehicles. In parallel, Uber has committed to purchasing tens of thousands of electric SUVs from Lucid, equipped with sensor arrays supplied by Nuro, with plans to deploy them in San Francisco later this year. By the end of 2026, the company aims to have autonomous vehicles operating in 15 global cities, including London, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. The launch of Uber Autonomous Solutions complements the company's expanding AI and data infrastructure efforts. Mapping and data collection will become central components of the new initiative, feeding into AI model training pipelines used for vehicle perception and navigation. The data will be gathered through Uber's AV Lab, a research group formed last month to collect and annotate sensor information from specially outfitted vehicles operating on the platform. The move follows Uber's mid-2025 rollout of its AI Solutions business, which provides data-labeling and model training services to AI labs and autonomous vehicle developers. Taken together, these initiatives point to a clear long-term strategy: rather than directly competing to build fully autonomous vehicles, Uber aims to position itself as the service layer connecting autonomous fleets, data infrastructure, and riders within a unified ecosystem. Even as Uber deepens its relationships with major autonomous vehicle developers, it faces the paradox of competing with some of them. In San Francisco, Uber's network coexists - and competes - with partners such as Waymo for market share. That tension has not gone unnoticed by investors: Uber's stock has declined nine percent since the start of the year. Still, the company's leadership appears determined to press ahead. With core autonomous technology maturing after years of setbacks, Uber sees an opportunity not only to provide rides but also to supply the systems that make those rides possible.