Uber has announced plans to roll out a fleet of 20,000 self-driving taxis after striking a landmark $300 million (£224 million) deal with electric vehicle maker Lucid Group, marking a major leap forward in its autonomous ride-hailing ambitions.
The ride-sharing giant will begin deploying the Lucid Gravity SUVs—equipped with self-driving technology developed by robotics company Nuro—from next year. The vehicles will be introduced gradually over six years, starting in a major US city in 2025.
As part of the partnership, Uber will also take a $300 million equity stake in Lucid, making it the EV manufacturer’s second-largest shareholder after Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Uber is also investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Nuro to strengthen its self-driving technology pipeline.
Uber’s chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the programme has the potential to reshape urban mobility.
“Autonomous vehicles have enormous potential to transform our cities for the better,” he said.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Nuro and Lucid on this new robotaxi programme, purpose-built just for the Uber platform, to safely bring the magic of autonomous driving to more people across the world.”
The deal highlights Uber’s continued strategy of partnering with, rather than building, autonomous vehicle technology in-house—marking a clear departure from the approach under former CEO Travis Kalanick.
In recent years, Uber has established partnerships with companies including Waymo, Volkswagen, and most recently China’s Baidu, with whom it struck a deal to deploy robotaxis across parts of Asia and the Middle East.
Uber already operates self-driving taxis in select US cities and is working closely with regulators and infrastructure partners to expand services further.
However, competition in the space is intensifying. Tesla launched its own robotaxi service in Austin, Texas last month, with Elon Musk pledging expansion into Los Angeles and San Francisco, despite a US regulatory investigation into its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software following a series of accidents—including one fatality.
The Uber deal also provides a timely boost for Lucid, whose co-founder and CEO Peter Rawlinson stepped down last year following steep financial losses. New CEO Marc Winterhoff has vowed to double production of the company’s flagship Gravity SUV—retailing at $95,000 (£70,000)—as part of a broader turnaround plan.
News of the Uber agreement sent Lucid shares soaring by 25%, as investors reacted positively to the endorsement from one of the world’s largest mobility platforms.
Uber also confirmed it remains ready to introduce autonomous vehicles in the UK but is awaiting regulatory approval. While the previous UK government had forecast self-driving cars would hit British roads by 2026, the new Labour administration has said this is unlikely to happen before the second half of 2027.
The move positions Uber as a frontrunner in the global race to commercialise self-driving technology at scale. It also underscores the company’s push to monetise autonomous mobility through strategic investments rather than expensive internal R&D.
With major players like Alphabet (Waymo) and Amazon (Zoox) pouring billions into the space, Uber’s multi-partner approach could offer a faster and more flexible route to market.
The deployment of 20,000 autonomous vehicles across Uber’s network over the next six years could reshape not just the ride-hailing experience—but also the competitive dynamics of the entire transport sector.