Uber to launch autonomous taxi rides in San Francisco next year

Uber plans to launch its specially built autonomous taxis in the San Francisco Bay Area by late 2026. These robotaxis will be exclusive to Uber but are based on the Lucid Gravity SUV, with Lucid recently delivering test vehicles to Nuro. Uber intends to have 100 test vehicles operating in the coming months. The company aims to deploy over 20,000 of these vehicles across multiple locations within six years, accessible through the Uber app. Uber is collaborating with various companies to accelerate its autonomous taxi deployment. In addition to Lucid, Uber is developing robotaxis with Nvidia and Stellantis, with Stellantis expecting to produce at least 5,000 vehicles for autonomous taxi operations starting in 2028. Uber is also already offering autonomous taxi rides in Saudi Arabia through a partnership with WeRide and operates with them in Abu Dhabi. Uber's significant step into autonomous taxis is noteworthy, given its status as the largest ride-hailing service globally, operating in numerous cities and countries. Competitor Waymo, owned by Alphabet, has been testing autonomous taxis for years and currently offers them in several U.S. cities, with plans to expand to London. Uber is also partnering with Waymo on autonomous taxis in select U.S. markets.