Uber to Offer Autonomous Taxi Rides in San Francisco
Uber states that the San Francisco Bay Area will be the premiere market for its specially designed self-driving taxi, anticipated to debut in late 2026.
In July, the San Francisco ride-hailing firm announced it was working on a robotaxi alongside electric car manufacturer Lucid and self-driving tech company Nuro Inc. This vehicle, which is unique to Uber, is modeled after the Lucid Gravity SUV.
Uber announced that Lucid has recently provided test vehicles to Nuro and intends to have 100 test vehicles operational on the roads soon.
In the next six years, Uber aims to launch over 20,000 autonomous taxis based on Lucid in various locations. The Uber app will provide access to the vehicles for riders.
Uber is collaborating with various firms to accelerate the rollout of self-driving taxis.
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On Tuesday, Uber announced it is also working on robotaxis in collaboration with the tech firm Nvidia and the car manufacturer Stellantis. Uber announced on Tuesday that Stellantis aims to commence production in 2028 of at least 5,000 vehicles utilizing Nvidia software for self-driving taxi services in the U.S.
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Last week, Uber announced that it has started providing self-driving taxi services in Saudi Arabia through a collaboration with WeRide, a Chinese firm specializing in autonomous technology. Uber collaborates with WeRide in Abu Dhabi as well.
Self-driving taxis aren't a recent concept, but Uber's implementation of them as the biggest ride-hailing service is noteworthy. Uber functions in 15,000 cities across over 70 nations.
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Waymo, a subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet, has been experimenting with self-driving taxis for several years. These taxis are presently accessible in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Austin. Waymo announced earlier this month its intention to broaden its operations to London next year.
Uber is collaborating with Waymo on self-driving taxis in Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta.