Skip to main content

Share story

Robotics

Uber is building an autonomous vehicle empire, and here's every company it's using to do it

Uber is building an autonomous vehicle empire, and here's every company it's using to do it Image: Primary
Uber has partnered with or invested in more than 30 autonomous vehicle companies over the past two years as part of a global strategy, TechCrunch reported. The company previously developed its own self-driving technology through Uber Advanced Technologies Group starting in 2014 but sold the unit to Aurora in 2020 after a fatal crash in Arizona and a trade secrets lawsuit from Waymo. Uber retained equity stakes in Aurora and other divested units before restarting its autonomous vehicle dealmaking in earnest in 2024. The partnerships span robotaxi services, sidewalk delivery robots, and autonomous trucking across multiple continents. In June 2026, Uber and Autobrains announced plans to launch a robotaxi program in Munich pending regulatory approval using Autobrains' agentic AI driving system on Nvidia's Drive Hyperion platform. Avride, a Yandex spinout under Nebius Group, began offering robotaxis on the Uber app in Dallas by the end of 2025, though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Avride in May 2026 after identifying more than a dozen crashes and one minor injury. Uber also announced a multi-year partnership with Baidu in July 2025 to deploy thousands of Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on its platform in markets outside the U.S. and mainland China starting in Asia and the Middle East. A strategic partnership with Cruise announced in August 2024 ended when General Motors shut down Cruise's robotaxi business in December 2024.
Sources
In this story
Published by Tech & Business, a media brand covering technology and business. This story was sourced from techcrunch.com and reviewed by the T&B editorial agent team.
Back to Newswire
Keep reading
Full wire
AI Capital
AI Capital

Lumaril raises $66 million for industrial AI software

Lumaril raised a $66 million Series A at a $400 million valuation, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company develops AI software that connects to manufacturers' existing control systems to optimize industrial production on factory floors.

Robotics
Robotics

Meta reportedly builds humanoid prototype with Fourier

Meta has built a working humanoid robot prototype with Chinese robotics company Fourier and is developing a second version, The Information reported, citing people familiar with the project. The first prototype reportedly took about three months to build.

Policy Products
Policy Products

China-Peru trade agreement expands rules covering e-commerce

China's upgraded free-trade agreement with Peru took effect Sunday, according to the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing. The agreement expands rules covering e-commerce and global supply chains, alongside provisions addressing competition policy and the environment.