Uber makes multi-million-dollar investment in Lucid and Nuro to build a premium robotaxi service

Uber is investing millions of dollars in Nuro, EV -maker Lucid and autonomous vehicles startup to launch Uber’s own premium robotaxi service.

Under the agreement announced on Thursday, Uber will invest $ 300 million in Lucide and separately the new gravity SUV “at least 20,000” will be purchased in the next six years. These EVs will be equipped with Nuro’s autonomous vehicle system and the vehicles will be owned and operated by Uber or its third party. Uber plans to launch a Robotaxi service in a big town in the United States the following year.

The production of this modified lucid gravity vehicle is expected to begin at the end of 2026, According to the filing of a controllerThe

Uber Nuro is also investing an undefined “multi-million dollar” amount. A source, familiar with the agreement, says that this amount is higher than Uber’s investment in Lucid.

Nuro’s co-founder and President Dave Ferguson told TechCrunch that there was a year to form an agreement between the three companies.

“I think it is probably the reflection of how much it is,” he said, “Uber is trying to make a big promise to a robotuxi program and spent time looking for the most suitable partner with almost every AV organization.”

“We were thrilled that at the end of everything, we were the partner that was chosen.”

Ferguson says Lucid and Nuro engineers have already made progress in the project. Companies are examining a prototype driverless car on a closed track at Las Vegas’s Noor Proveing Ground.

Uber has spent the past two years of autonomous vehicles locked with partnerships with partnerships, covering the spectrum of how self-driving systems can be applied to the physical world. Ride-hilling giants have been partner with more than 18 agencies worldwide, across Ride-hillingDelivered, and trucking. Alone this year, it has announced the contract Ann Urber, Michigan-based May Mobility VolkswagenAs well as the moments of Chinese self-driving firms, WhirideAnd Baudu.

Uber’s most high-profile partnership in the United States-and one that is being managed commercially today-is with Wemo. Companies provide a “Uber Wemo” service Austin And AtlantaThe

This agreement explains how much Uber spends money on and even dominating autonomous vehicles is willing to invest in the market.