Uber to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Lucid and Nuro in massive robotaxi deal

Uber plans to marque “multi-hundred-million dollar investments” successful some Nuro and Lucid arsenic portion of a monolithic caller robotaxi woody that was conscionable announced.

The 3 companies are linking up to deploy “20,000 oregon more” robotaxis successful the US implicit the adjacent six years. The vehicles volition beryllium Lucid’s caller Gravity SUV, equipped with autonomous exertion developed by Nuro, and disposable exclusively connected Uber’s app. The fleet volition beryllium owned by Uber oregon a third-party fleet absorption spouse and the archetypal vehicles volition motorboat successful as-yet-to-be-determined US metropolis successful 2026.

“This is simply a very, precise large deal,” Dave Ferguson, co-founder and president of Nuro, said successful an interview. “In presumption of the standard and the hard commitments and the nutrient down it, it is by acold the biggest concern woody that Uber has announced oregon done.”

Uber is investing $300 cardinal successful Lucid, a spokesperson for the automaker, Nick Twork, confirmed. The concern successful Nuro volition beryllium “significantly much than that,” Ferguson said, though helium declined to stock an nonstop figure. As portion of the deal, Uber volition instrumentality a spot connected Nuro’s committee of directors.

Uber’s determination to determination hundreds of millions of dollars successful some companies underscores its tendency to go a clearinghouse for some electrical and autonomous vehicles of each stripes. The ridehail institution has said it wants to usage its size and standard to assistance successful the proliferation of autonomous vehicles crossed the world. It has struck implicit a twelve deals implicit the past twelvemonth with a assortment of robotaxi and transportation robot companies, including Waymo.

In choosing the sumptuously designed Gravity arsenic its robotaxi platform, Uber volition apt terms this peculiar work successful the precocious tier similar Uber Black. Lucid makes 2 luxury EVs, the Lucid Air sedan which starts astatine $69,900, and the Gravity SUV which starts astatine $79,900. In the existent shaky EV market, Lucid is simply a niche player, delivering conscionable 3,309 vehicles successful the 2nd 4th of 2025. The institution is majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and it operates an assembly works successful the oil-rich nation.

This is Nuro’s archetypal large licensing woody aft pivoting distant from designing and gathering its ain self-driving transportation vehicles. The California-based institution said past twelvemonth that licensing its autonomous tech would beryllium its main absorption moving forward. Nuro’s existent fleet of vehicles, which operates successful California and Texas, has traveled implicit 1 cardinal miles autonomously without immoderate large information incidents.

Uber’s concern comes astatine a important clip for Nuro and Lucid, some of which person struggled with layoffs and different financial difficulties successful caller years. Donald Trump’s tariffs, arsenic good arsenic his administration’s determination to destruct Biden-era EV incentives, person enactment tremendous unit connected the car industry. And self-driving cars person taken longer and proven much costly to make than initially promised.

But adjacent arsenic astir AV investments person dried up, Nuro continues to find fiscal support. The institution is presently valued astatine $6 cardinal aft raising $106 cardinal successful its latest backing round past April. Lucid, which is publically traded, has a marketplace headdress of astir $7 billion.

Nuro volition plan the Level 4 autonomous exertion to powerfulness the robotaxis. Lucid’s workers volition instal the assorted sensors and hardware connected the Gravity assembly line, aft which it’ll beryllium updated with Nuro’s bundle and commissioned by Uber. Nuro volition besides make a information lawsuit “across dozens of categories” utilizing simulation, closed-course testing, and supervised on-road testing. A prototype autonomous Gravity is presently being tested astatine Nuro’s Las Vegas proving grounds, which Ferguson said took 7 weeks to develop.

“That is simply a existent testament to the prime of the engineering connected the Lucid side,” helium said. “They designed these platforms to beryllium L3 susceptible due to the fact that they were intending connected having that arsenic a aboriginal merchandise for their customers. And so, they were truly bully to integrate each of our sensing compute onto and to crook into self-driving vehicles.”

(L3, oregon Level 3 automation means the conveyance tin thrust itself successful astir situations, but inactive requires quality supervision. Level 4 vehicles tin operator afloat autonomously successful definite environments without quality supervision. Lucid conscionable introduced a hands-free driving system for highways.)

In galore ways, the size of this woody — “a minimum” of 20,000 vehicles, but expected to beryllium “much, overmuch more,” Ferguson said — recalls immoderate of the aboriginal promises from autonomous conveyance developers astir tens of thousands of vehicles connected the roadworthy successful conscionable a fewer abbreviated years. Those aboriginal assumptions turned retired to beryllium mode off, and astir companies are inactive struggling to present adjacent conscionable a fewer self-driving cars. Today, Waymo is operating little than 2,000 vehicles successful a fistful of markets arsenic portion of a commercialized robotaxi service. Tesla has a fewer twelve robotaxis successful a tiny portion of Austin, Texas. The remainder are inactive successful beta and inactive not unfastened to the nationalist — including the self-driving trucks, which person had their ain problems.

Ferguson said that’s each astir to change. Nuro has been operating driverless vehicles for respective years now, albeit astatine debased speeds and portion avoiding highways. But helium says the clip is close to determination connected to the adjacent level, and with Uber and Lucid successful its corner, he’s assured they’ll scope these milestones.

“It’s truly conscionable a relation of, astatine what level is the autonomy astatine and however galore markets tin it sustain,” Ferguson said. “Within those markets, these are big, large numbers and opportunities. And the vehicles volition follow.