Uber and Rivian have announced a strategic deal that could deploy up to 50,000 robotaxis (fully autonomous vehicles) on the road by 2031.
As part of the partnership, Uber will invest $300 million in Rivian (equivalent to about 19.55 million Rivian shares), with the investment committed immediately upon signing.
What will passengers experience on the ground?
In the first phase, Uber or its fleet partners could purchase the first 10,000 fully autonomous Rivian R2 EVs. From 2028, passengers in San Francisco and Miami could be hailing fully driverless Rivian R2s directly through the Uber app.
Thereafter, Uber will have the option to purchase an additional 40,000 units from the automaker through 2031, to be deployed across 25 cities in the United States, Canada, and Europe. However, the bulk of the investment is tied to Rivian meeting the agreed-upon performance milestones.
Uber has also agreed to pay licensing fees for Rivian’s autonomous driving software. For those catching up, the automaker’s third-generation autonomy platform combines 11 cameras, five radars, and one LiDAR, all powered by two in-house RAP1 chips (capable of delivering up to 1,600 TOPS of AI compute).
The deal improves Rivian’s position as an autonomous technology provider
It’s worth mentioning that Rivian is beginning consumer R2 sales this spring. Once that happens, the real-world driving data should help further improve the autonomous systems. It is Rivian’s stronghold over its hardware (the car) and the platform (the software) that convinced Uber to enter the deal.
Following the announcement, Rivian’s stock jumped roughly 10%, signalling strong investor confidence in the partnership. The deal adds to Rivian’s existing $5.8 billion software partnership with Volkswagen, solidifying its position as an autonomous technology provider.
For Uber, it is the most substantial robotaxi commitment the company has made, following earlier tie-ups with Lucid, Amazon’s Zoox, Stellantis, and Nvidia.
