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Uber bets $1.25 billion on Rivian to build its own robotaxi fleet — again

Uber bets $1.25 billion on Rivian to build its own robotaxi fleet — again

Money Moves

Six years after abandoning in-house self-driving, Uber returns to fleet ownership with a 50,000-vehicle commitment

March 20th, 2026: Uber invests up to $1.25 billion in Rivian for 50,000 robotaxis

Overview

Uber sold its self-driving car unit in 2020 after burning billions and killing a pedestrian. Now it's spending up to $1.25 billion to do it all over again — this time with Rivian building the cars. The deal commits Uber to purchasing up to 50,000 autonomous R2 sport utility vehicles for deployment across 25 cities by 2031, beginning in San Francisco and Miami in 2028.

Rivian needs guaranteed demand as it ramps up production of its first mass-market vehicle. Uber needs its own fleet to avoid becoming a middleman that Waymo, Tesla, and Amazon can bypass entirely. The question is whether Uber can manage the capital intensity it once fled — and whether Rivian can deliver Level 4 autonomy on a timeline that matters.

Why it matters

This deal shapes who controls the future of urban transportation — and whether ride-hailing apps or carmakers capture the value.

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Key Indicators

$1.25B
Uber's total investment commitment
Structured in five tranches tied to Rivian hitting autonomous driving milestones
50,000
Maximum robotaxi fleet size
Initial purchase of 10,000 R2 vehicles with an option for 40,000 more starting 2030
25
Target cities by 2031
Deployment begins in San Francisco and Miami in 2028, expanding across the United States, Canada, and Europe
400,000
Waymo's current weekly paid rides
Alphabet's robotaxi service already operates in 10 cities and is targeting 1 million rides per week by late 2026
$10B+
What GM lost on Cruise
General Motors folded its Cruise robotaxi program in December 2024 after accumulating over $10 billion in losses

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Timeline Five events from this story — drag them oldest to newest. Log in to play
Connections Sixteen names from the news. Find the four hidden groups of four. Log in to play

People Involved

Dara Khosrowshahi
Dara Khosrowshahi
Leading Uber's multi-partner autonomous vehicle strategy
 RJ Scaringe
RJ Scaringe
Launching Rivian's first mass-market vehicle and autonomous driving platform

Organizations Involved

UT
Uber Technologies
Public ridesharing and delivery platform
Assembling a portfolio of autonomous vehicle partners while investing directly in fleet ownership

The world's largest ride-hailing platform, now pursuing a hybrid strategy of partnering with autonomous vehicle developers while investing directly in robotaxi fleets.
Rivian Automotive
Rivian Automotive
Electric vehicle manufacturer
Launching mass-market R2 vehicle and developing Level 4 autonomous driving

A vertically integrated electric vehicle maker building its own autonomy stack, custom silicon, and manufacturing capacity.
Waymo
Waymo
Autonomous-driving company (Alphabet)
Market leader with 400,000 weekly paid rides across 10 cities

Alphabet's self-driving subsidiary and the clear commercial leader in robotaxis, now expanding independently of Uber in several cities.

Timeline

February 2015 March 2026

10 events Latest: March 20th, 2026 · 3 months ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Uber invests up to $1.25 billion in Rivian for 50,000 robotaxis

    Latest Partnership

    Uber announced a $300 million initial equity investment in Rivian with up to $950 million more tied to autonomy milestones, committing to purchase up to 50,000 autonomous R2 vehicles for deployment in 25 cities by 2031.

  2. Uber announces Zoox robotaxi partnership

    Partnership

    Uber and Amazon's Zoox announced a multiyear deal to deploy Zoox's purpose-built robotaxis on the Uber app, beginning in Las Vegas in summer 2026 and Los Angeles in 2027.

  3. Rivian unveils custom autonomy chip and sensor platform

    Technology

    Rivian announced its RAP1 custom 5-nanometer chip and third-generation autonomy hardware, delivering 1,600 trillion operations per second of artificial intelligence compute with 11 cameras, 5 radars, and lidar.

  4. Tesla launches robotaxi service in Austin with limited fleet

    Industry

    Tesla began offering autonomous rides in Austin, Texas, but the service remained limited — after eight months, only about 35 vehicles were operating with 19% uptime and 15 reported crash incidents.

  5. General Motors shuts down Cruise robotaxi program

    Industry

    General Motors folded its Cruise robotaxi division after accumulating over $10 billion in losses and a severe accident in San Francisco where a robotaxi dragged a pedestrian.

  6. Uber partners with Waymo for robotaxi rides

    Partnership

    Uber and Waymo began offering autonomous rides through the Uber app in Austin and Atlanta, with over 100 Waymo vehicles on the platform.

  7. Uber sells self-driving unit to Aurora Innovation

    Corporate

    Uber sold its Advanced Technologies Group to Aurora in a deal valuing the combined company at $10 billion, with Uber's unit marked down to roughly $4 billion. Uber invested $400 million in Aurora and its chief executive joined Aurora's board.

  8. Uber spins out self-driving unit at $7.25 billion valuation

    Corporate

    Toyota, Denso, and SoftBank's Vision Fund invested $1 billion in Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, valuing the unit at $7.25 billion.

  9. Uber self-driving car kills pedestrian in Arizona

    Incident

    A self-driving Uber vehicle struck and killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, Arizona — the first known pedestrian death involving an autonomous vehicle. Uber suspended all testing.

  10. Uber launches self-driving car program

    Corporate

    Uber established its Advanced Technologies Group to develop autonomous driving technology in-house, entering a race with Google, General Motors, and others.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

December 2020

Uber sells self-driving unit to Aurora Innovation (2020)

After spending an estimated $2.5 billion on autonomous vehicle development and suffering the reputational and legal fallout from the 2018 pedestrian death in Tempe, Arizona, Uber sold its Advanced Technologies Group to Aurora Innovation. The unit, valued at $7.25 billion just 18 months earlier, was marked down to roughly $4 billion. Uber invested $400 million in Aurora and chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi joined Aurora's board.

Then

Uber cut its largest cost center and repositioned as a capital-light platform, contributing to its first-ever profitable quarter in 2023.

Now

Aurora has struggled to commercialize the technology at scale, and Uber's stake has declined in value — validating the sale decision but leaving Uber without its own autonomous capability as competitors advanced.

Why this matters now

The Rivian deal directly reverses the 2020 decision. Uber is returning to fleet ownership and capital commitment — but this time with milestone-based investment tranches designed to limit downside risk if the technology fails to materialize.

March 2016 – December 2024

General Motors acquires and then abandons Cruise (2016–2024)

General Motors purchased autonomous driving startup Cruise for roughly $1 billion in 2016 and spent the next eight years pouring money into it — accumulating over $10 billion in operating losses at a rate of about $2 billion per year. In October 2023, a Cruise robotaxi struck a pedestrian in San Francisco and dragged her 20 feet, leading to a suspended operating permit and a crisis of public trust. In December 2024, General Motors shut down the robotaxi program entirely.

Then

Cruise's workforce was cut by roughly 50%, and General Motors redirected remaining autonomous technology toward its Super Cruise driver-assistance system for personal vehicles.

Now

The Cruise failure demonstrated that even a major automaker with deep pockets could not sustain the capital demands of robotaxi development indefinitely. It became the cautionary tale for the industry.

Why this matters now

The Cruise collapse is the shadow hanging over every robotaxi investment. Uber's milestone-based structure for the Rivian deal — releasing capital only as autonomy targets are met — appears designed specifically to avoid the open-ended spending that sank Cruise.

2014 – February 2024

Apple cancels Project Titan self-driving car (2024)

After roughly a decade and an estimated $10 billion in spending, Apple cancelled its autonomous vehicle project, known internally as Project Titan. The company had shifted its ambitions multiple times — from building a full car to developing autonomous driving software and back again — without producing a commercial product. The cancellation came as Apple redirected engineering resources toward artificial intelligence.

Then

Approximately 2,000 employees were reassigned, many to Apple's generative artificial intelligence teams.

Now

Apple's exit reinforced the difficulty of autonomous vehicle development even for the world's most valuable technology company, narrowing the field of serious contenders.

Why this matters now

Apple, General Motors, and Uber itself have all abandoned autonomous vehicle programs after billions in losses. Rivian's pitch — that vertical integration of vehicle hardware, custom silicon, and software can succeed where others failed — remains unproven at Level 4 autonomy.

Sources

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+4
Uber Investor Relations TechCrunch CNBC Fortune Rivian Newsroom Deutsche Bank via MarketMinute Electrek Simply Wall St CNBC CNBC