Uber is accelerating its push toward a driverless future through a major new partnership with US electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Motors.
The deal includes an initial investment of $300mn from Uber, which could increase to $1.25bn by 2031 if Rivian meets agreed autonomy targets. As part of the arrangement, Uber plans to acquire as many as 50,000 self-driving vehicles. This will begin with 10,000 robotaxi-capable versions of Rivian’s forthcoming R2 SUV, with a further 40,000 vehicles potentially added from 2030 onward.
Both companies intend to roll out “unsupervised service” in cities including San Francisco and Miami by 2028. From there, the service is expected to scale to 25 cities across North America and Europe by 2031.
The move aligns with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s strategy to make Uber a central platform in the autonomous mobility landscape, rather than building the technology itself. After divesting its own self-driving division in 2020, Uber has shifted firmly toward collaboration. Khosrowshahi said the company aims to succeed by “being a valuable intermediary” for its global user base while managing the operational side of robotaxi services.
The Rivian agreement adds to a growing list of partnerships with autonomous technology firms, including Waymo, Lucid, Baidu and UK-based start-up Wayve. Together, these alliances strengthen Uber’s role in shaping the future of self-driving transport.
For Rivian, the deal offers a timely opportunity. Despite strong interest in its premium electric trucks and SUVs, the company has faced financial pressure due to high costs and volatility in the US EV market since going public.
CEO RJ Scaringe said the partnership “will help accelerate our path to level 4 [unsupervised] autonomy to create one of the safest and most convenient autonomous platforms”.
Describing the moment as a turning point for the sector, Scaringe said in a recent media interview: “We are very bullish on autonomy and its role in transportation. If we look at what the next three to five years look like in terms of the rate and progress of autonomy and compare them to the last three to five years of progress, this will look like a step change.”
Uber said that the partnership reinforces its ambition to lead the evolving robotaxi ecosystem while outpacing rivals developing their own autonomous fleets.
