Uber's Ambitious Robotaxi Plan: 20,000 Lucid EVs with Nuro's AI Technology

Uber's latest robotaxi plan involves 20,000 Lucid EVs

Nuro is powering the autonomous driving tools on Lucid's Gravity SUV. Uber is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Nuro and Lucid, the latest step in the company's plan to build an extensive robotaxi program that can roll out globally. Uber's partnership with EV manufacturer Lucid will see it deploy at least 20,000 of the Newark-based company's vehicles over a period of six years. These will be equipped with the AI-powered Nuro Driver autonomous technology. The vehicles will be owned and operated by Uber or one of its third-party partners, and the service will be exclusive to Uber users. The robotaxi service is expected to launch in late 2026 in an unnamed "major US city," and Uber that a prototype of an operational autonomous Lucid-Nuro vehicle is currently being tested on a closed circuit at a Nuro facility in Las Vegas. According to the new partners, the robotaxi will benefit from the Lucid Gravity SUV's "advanced technology platform, redundant electrical and controls architectures, and long range," with the latter estimated to be around 450 miles. Nuro will be responsible for overseeing the extensive safety checks. These range from simulations to on-road testing and are marked on "dozens" of categories. The approved Lucid Gravity robotaxi will operate at level 4 autonomy, which essentially makes it almost fully self-driving and able to perform the majority of its functions without any human intervention. Uber has spent much of this year expanding its robotaxi ambitions through various team-ups with the likes of and British AI company , with whom it plans to bring robotaxis to the UK for the first time next year. Back in March, Uber its robotaxi service with Waymo in Austin, building on the existing offering in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Waymo One covers 37 square miles of the city, and Uber users can ride in one by ordering an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric. Earlier this week, Uber also announced a new with China-based Baidu, which will see the two companies bring Baidu's Apollo Go autonomous vehicles to mainland China and other non-US (no surprise there) markets around the world.

Uber's new robotaxi deal sends Lucid stock soaring

Uber is making a bold move into the driverless future -- with help from electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors and autonomous driving startup Nuro. The ride-hailing giant announced Thursday that it plans to deploy more than 20,000 robotaxis over the next six years, powered by Lucid's EVs and Nuro's software. The self-driving fleet, expected to debut in a major U.S. city next year, will operate exclusively on Uber's platform. It's a fresh attempt by Uber to gain a foothold in the autonomous vehicle (AV) space after selling off its own self-driving unit in 2020 and instead forging partnerships with outside players including Waymo and May Mobility. Lucid's stock price soared more than 39% on the news, and Uber shares were up slightly midday Thursday. Uber said it's also investing $300 million in Lucid and a "multi-hundred-million dollar" sum in Nuro. But some analysts aren't convinced this is a win. "This deal highlights several issues Uber faces," Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt wrote in a note to investors Thursday. "It puts the Waymo relationship at risk, impairs the capital efficiency story, and comes with major execution risk given Lucid and Nuro as partners." He likened the move to "doing a deal with AskJeeves, Overture, or Infoseek back in the day to protect against Google on the horizon." Wedbush estimates the investment could total at least $2.3 billion before even accounting for Nuro -- and questions whether Lucid, which delivered just 10,000 vehicles in 2024 and has faced production struggles, can scale quickly enough to meet Uber's goals. "Lucid would need even more capital to deliver on Uber's production requests," Devitt noted. Still, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi struck a bullish tone, calling the program "purpose-built just for the Uber platform" and a key step in bringing the "magic of autonomous driving" to more riders. For Lucid, the deal is a big opportunity to break into commercial fleet sales and prove its EV tech can power not just luxury cars, but robotaxis. Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff said the partnership validates Lucid's "innovation and technology leadership" and could eventually expand to other models currently in development. Nuro, meanwhile, gains its first large-scale human passenger deployment after years focused on autonomous deliveries. The startup, backed by Google's parent company Alphabet and SoftBank, will provide the AI software that drives the Lucid vehicles. But despite all the enthusiasm, analysts warn the road ahead is bumpy. "The AV market is still fragmented, but it's likely to consolidate among a few top players," Devitt wrote. And for now, "Waymo and Tesla still have a massive scale and technology advantage." Uber is betting that teaming up with Lucid and Nuro will help it stay relevant in a world of driverless cars. But if this partnership stumbles -- or if rivals pull further ahead -- the company could find itself watching the autonomous revolution from the passenger seat.

Uber to deploy 20,000 Lucid Gravity robotaxis equipped with Nuro Driver, beginning next year [Video]

Lucid Gravity Robotaxis? Yes, please! Uber Technologies, Lucid Group, and Nuro, Inc. announced an exciting new partnership this morning. The three will combine technologies to deliver the public a premium global robotaxi option on Uber's platform. We should see the Lucid robotaxis roll out in their first major city next year. Each of the three companies involved in today's agreement announcement has carved its own path in the advanced mobility industry using exciting new forms of technology. If you're a reader at Electrek, Lucid Motors should be ingrained in your brain as a leader in EV efficiency, which only now appears to be starting to hit a stride in scaling production with recently resumed deliveries of its second flagship model, the Gravity SUV. Nuro, Inc. is a robotics company that has made huge strides in Level 4 autonomous vehicles. While Nuro focuses more on zero-occupant delivery vehicles, its AI-enabled Nuro Driver system has continued to evolve and expand, especially through Nuro's partnership with Uber Eats. Lastly, Uber Technologies is a household name in the rideshare business. It consistently adapts its services to provide its users with safe and time-saving mobility options, from rides to deliveries and even bike rentals. Uber has established numerous partnerships with OEMs and technology leaders worldwide, and now adds Lucid Group to its Rolodex. Uber Technologies appears to be adapting the strategy of partnering with just about anyone in the tech industry with viable AI and/or autonomous driving technology. Earlier this year, the rideshare specialist announced partnerships with May Mobility in Texas and Momenta in Europe to enable driverless robotaxi rides in certain regions. With Nuro already an established partner in the last-mile delivery side of its business, there is perhaps no bigger name for a new partnership right now than Lucid Group. Lucid shared details of its new three-way partnership early this morning, sharing plans to combine its Lucid Gravity BEVs with the proven scalable Nuro Driver autonomy system across Uber's existing global network of service and fleet management capabilities to offer the public an entirely new "fully-integrated robotaxi experience." As part of the agreement, Uber has agreed to invest $300 million in Lucid Group and a hefty amount in Nuro, the amount of which is unknown at this time. In return, Uber intends to deploy 20,000 (or more) Lucid vehicles equipped with the Nuro Driver Level 4 autonomous system over the next six years. These robotaxi vehicles, which will be entirely Lucid Gravity SUVs to begin with, will be operated and maintained by Uber and its third-party partner and available exclusively on the Uber app. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi elaborated: Autonomous vehicles have enormous potential to transform our cities for the better. We're thrilled to partner with Nuro and Lucid on this new robotaxi program, purpose-built just for the Uber platform, to safely bring the magic of autonomous driving to more people across the world. According to the companies, the first Nuro Driver-equipped Lucid Gravity prototype is already completing fully autonomous operations on a closed circuit at Nuro's proving grounds in Las Vegas. You can see it in action in the video below. We asked Lucid if the Uber robotaxi fleet will also include Air sedans. We were told it will be Gravity SUVs to start, with the option to "consider future vehicles" (ahem, Mid-Size) as they become available. Uber said the 20,000 planned Lucid robotaxis will roll out in dozens of global markets over the next six years, beginning in a major US city in 2026. Based on the locations of these three companies and the current cities that allow fully autonomous robotaxi rides, we'd expect the Lucid Gravity fleet to begin operations in San Francisco, Las Vegas, or Austin, but that is merely an educated guess. No company has confirmed such plans yet. For now, you can enjoy the following video of the Level 4 autonomous Gravity in action.

Uber to deploy 20,000 autonomous taxis in partnership with Lucid and Nuro - SiliconANGLE

Uber to deploy 20,000 autonomous taxis in partnership with Lucid and Nuro Uber Technologies Inc. plans to deploy at least 20,000 autonomous taxis through two new partnerships that it announced today. Lucid Group Inc., a Nasdaq-traded automaker, will build the vehicles. Venture-backed startup Nuro Inc. is set to provide autonomous driving software for those vehicles. As part of the collaboration, Uber is reportedly investing $300 million in Lucid and an unspecified larger sum in Nuro. The partnership centers on Lucid's Gravity electric SUV, which can cover up to 450 miles per charge with seven passengers aboard. Uber's taxi fleet will be based on a modified version of the Gravity that is set to enter production in late 2026. Lucid will equip the SUV with an autonomous driving module made by Nuro during assembly. Nuro Driver, as the module is called, is powered by Nvidia Corp.'s DRIVE Thor system-on-chip. It's a vehicle processor based on the Blackwell architecture that powers the company's latest data center graphics cards. Nvidia says that DRIVE Thor can provide 1 petaflop of processing capacity for autonomous driving software. The Nuro Driver combines the chip with cameras, lidar sensors and radar units. Nuro trains the artificial intelligence models that run on the hardware using a custom simulation platform. The company says that the platform harnesses AI agents and synthetic data to make road simulations more realistic, which streamlines model training. Uber plans to equip its modified Gravity SUVs with Level 4 autonomy. This term describes vehicles that can operate without human input under most driving conditions, but only in a limited area. The driver can take over in the event of a technical issue. The Nuro Driver's Level 4 autonomy features represent an upgrade over the more limited Level 3 software in the standard version of the Gravity SUV. The standard version can park itself, help drivers switch lanes and perform a number of other tasks. The Gravity's autonomy features are powered by redundant electronics, which means that several components have backups the vehicle can quickly activate. Nuro plans to run a series of safety tests to ensure that Uber's self-driving taxis will operate reliably. The initiative encompasses simulations, closed course evaluations and testing on public roads. Lucid, meanwhile, is gearing up to begin autonomous taxi production in 2026. Uber says that some of the vehicles built through the collaboration will be owned and operated by "third-party fleet partners." To start, the company will bring its autonomous taxi service to a single U.S. city in late 2026. It plans to deploy upwards of 20,000 vehicles over the subsequent six years. Uber already offers an autonomous taxi service through a partnership with Waymo LLC. The Alphabet Inc. unit's self-driving vehicles are accessible to users in Austin and Atlanta. Additionally, Uber partnered with a startup called May Mobility Inc. earlier this year to make thousands of autonomous minivans available through its app.

Uber and Lucid team up to launch Robotaxis -- 20,000 driverless cars to hit US, set to take on Tesla and Waymo in 2025

Uber is going all-in on the future of autonomous vehicles as it revealed a new robotaxi initiative with EV manufacturer Lucid and autonomous software company Nuro, as per a report. Following the announcement, Lucid Group Inc's stock rose more than 29%, according to a CNBC report. Under the "next-generation premium global robotaxi program", the companies aim to introduce more than 20,000 robotaxis in the next six years, all exclusively on Uber's platform, as reported by Yahoo Finance. This comes after Lucid, the California-based company, posted a strong second quarter of deliveries, with the new Lucid Gravity SUV arriving in showrooms, and its goal to deliver 20,000 Air sedans and Gravity SUVs in 2025, reported Yahoo Finance. ALSO READ: Dream Job? Elon Musk's xAI offers up to $440,000 for engineers who can make anime girl avatars This is a major deal for Uber, which retreated from robotaxi initiatives after a fatal crash in 2018, according to the report. With Lucid's Gravity SUV and Nuro, which is backed by Google and the SoftBank Vision Fund, providing its Driver Level 4 autonomous software on Uber's platform and fleet management systems, the robotaxis could be in a major US city as early as next year, according to the Yahoo Finance report. For the new robotaxi program, the ride-hailing company revealed that it will invest $300 million in Lucid and a similar "multi-hundred-million dollar" investment in Nuro, according to the report. ALSO READ: $14 billion Meta deal, then massive layoffs? Scale AI cuts 200 roles, 14% of its workforce in stunning move A Lucid robotaxi prototype using Nuro software is currently being tested at Nuro's Las Vegas proving grounds, as reported by Yahoo Finance. The startup raised $106 million in a funding round from T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Tiger Global and Greylock, in April, as reported by CNBC. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, "We're thrilled to partner with Nuro and Lucid on this new robotaxi program, purpose-built just for the Uber platform, to safely bring the magic of autonomous driving to more people across the world," as quoted by Yahoo Finance. While Lucid interim CEO Marc Winterhoff said that, "This investment from Uber further validates Lucid's fully redundant zonal architecture and highly capable platform as ideal for autonomous vehicles," and added that, "This is the start of our path to extend our innovation and technology leadership into this multi-trillion-dollar market," as quoted in the report. The latest Uber-Lucid-Nuro robotaxi program is the newest bet on robotaxi services in the United States, and comes after Waymo's leadership in the space as the only true operator, as per Yahoo Finance. While Uber has also partnered with Alphabet's Waymo in deployments in Austin and Atlanta, Yahoo Finance reported. Meanwhile, even Tesla expanded its robotaxi testing in Austin, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk saying that the EV giant would expand testing to the San Francisco Bay Area, but reportedly the applications for those state permits have not been submitted, according to the report. How much is Uber investing? Uber is investing $300 million in Lucid, and another multi-hundred million in Nuro. How does this compare to Waymo and Tesla? Waymo is already operating robotaxis in some cities. Tesla is testing its own version but hasn't gotten full permits yet.