Google has recently partnered with Lucid, an electric vehicle maker, and Nuro, a self-driving car startup, as part of the deal.
The three companies are set to partner to deploy "20,000 or more" robotaxi in the US over the next six years as demand for unmanned vehicles continues to grow. The car used for the above team is Lucid's new Gravity SUV, equipped with autonomous technology developed by Nuro and only available on the Uber application.
The fleet will be owned by Uber or a third-party fleet manager, and the first vehicles will be launched in a US city in 2026.
Mr. Dave Ferguson - co-founder and Chairman of Nuro said that this was a huge deal. In terms of scale, solid commitments and core content, it is the largest cooperation agreement that Uber has ever announced or implemented.
Meanwhile, CEO of Uber - Mr. Dara Khosrowshahi, highly appreciated the cooperative relationship with Nuro and Lucid in this new robotaxi program, when built specifically for Uber, to bring the autonomous driving experience to more people around the world in a safe way.
In an interview, Lucid CEO Marc Winterhoff called the partnership an opportunity for electric vehicle makers to compete in a completely new market they have yet to penetrate.
Lucid's stock price increased by 30% in the trading session on July 17, while taxi's stock price also increased slightly.
On the other hand, Nuro - backed by technology giant Google and softBank Vision Fund - will provide level 4 autonomous driving system software for cars. This technology can carry passengers in normal traffic and weather conditions without a driver.
The partnership with Lucid and Nuro was announced after the alliance between Uber and Waymo, supported by technology group Alphabet. The two companies expanded their service to Atlanta and Austin, Texas, in early 2025.
