Autonomous driving: Uber plans 100,000 robotaxis - deal with Nvidia

Ride-hailing company Uber is aiming for 100,000 robotaxis on its platform in the future. A key to this goal is expected to be new in-car computers from chip giant Nvidia , which will bring autonomous driving hardware to cars from various manufacturers.

In the announcement by Uber and Nvidia, there was no indication as to when the target of 100,000 robotaxis could be reached. The first vehicles with Nvidia's new computing platform are expected to be available in 2027.

Among the first robotaxis with Nvidia hardware at Uber will be at least 5,000 vehicles from Opel parent company Stellantis, the ride-hailing company announced. Mercedes-Benz and Tesla competitor Lucid are also working on vehicles compatible with Nvidia's new platform, called Drive AGX Hyperion 10, it was reported.

Uber announced in the summer that it intended to become a robotaxi provider itself – thus competing with the drivers on the platform itself. It stated that at least 20,000 self-driving vehicles based on SUVs from electric car manufacturer Lucid would be introduced in various countries over the next six years. The vehicles would belong to Uber or the online service's fleet partners.

Uber has already demonstrated its ambition to become the leading platform for robotaxis from various developers. Self-driving cars from Google sister company Waymo are already available for booking via the Uber app in some US cities.

Volkswagen robotaxis are also expected to be added to the platform. Uber also announced that it will be brokering self-driving cars from the Chinese company Baidu outside the US. Uber abandoned the development of its own autonomous driving technology years ago after a fatal accident during an evening test drive.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:251029-930-221003/1