Uber's $1.25B Rivian Investment for 50K Robotaxis

0:00This is Durham News Today, powered by AI and presented by the Daily News Now. Uber is ramping up its push into self-driving cars with big new partnerships announced this week. In February's fourth quarter earnings, the company laid out plans to expand into autonomous vehicles, and now it's moving fast with deals alongside. Rivian and Enbidia. The goal is to bring Roboltax's to its ride-hailing app without building the tech itself. The Rivian agreement is the headline. Uber plans to invest up to $1.25 billion by 2031, starting with $300 million a front. They'll deploy up to 50,000 fully driverless Rivian R2 Roboltax's, kicking off with 10,000 in San Francisco and Miami in 20. 28. Then growing to 25 cities. Meanwhile, the Enbidia partnership builds on that momentum. It uses Enbidia's advanced platform for level 4 autonomy, handling tough scenarios like erratic pedestrians or roadwork.

1:00Rollouts start with data collection in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the first half of 2027, expanding to 28 cities. Worldwide by 2028. Wall Street is paying close attention as Uber positions itself as the go-to marketplace for Roboltax's fleets. Analysts at Bank of America see this boosting Uber's edge against rivals like Waymo and Tesla. They note recent deals, including Wozoax, could draw even more players to Uber's platform. Uber stock dipped 1% on Thursday, but has climbed 3.4% over the past five days. Still is down 7% year to date amid broader market worries. These moves signal Uber's bet on autonomous tech to reshape ride sharing for the long haul. A message from our sponsor supports today's story. It is a pillow that plays your podcast in music without earbuds, built for listening in bed, S-O-L-I-SOLYPILLOW.COM.