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Uber’s AV partnership push
Uber has partnered with and in some cases made direct investments in more than 30 autonomous vehicle companies over the past two years, taking a global approach to building an autonomous vehicle ecosystem.
“Uber has partnered with — and in some cases made direct investments in — more than 30 autonomous vehicle companies over the past two years.”
The company’s current strategy follows an earlier period when Uber, then led by Travis Kalanick, created Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) in 2014 and recruited dozens of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s robotics program.
Uber also began testing its AVs on public streets in 2016 across California, Pittsburgh, and Arizona, before progress unraveled across Waymo’s trade secrets lawsuit, Kalanick’s resignation in 2017, and a fatal crash in Tempe, Arizona in 2018 involving its self-driving Volvo XC90.
After Dara Khosrowshahi took the wheel, Uber walked away from moonshots in 2020, sold Uber ATG to Aurora, and kept equity stakes in the companies it spun out, before starting to make AV deals again.
TechCrunch’s tracker says the deal flow picked up in earnest in 2024, with Uber’s partnerships spanning robotaxis, autonomous trucks, delivery robots, and AI-driven driving platforms.
Who’s in the network
TechCrunch lists Aurora as a key partner, noting that Uber received equity in Aurora as part of the 2020 deal and that, as of this past April, Uber through Neben Holdings owned 325.97 million Aurora Class A shares.
TechCrunch also describes a robotaxi plan in Munich, saying that in June 2026 the companies announced plans to launch a robotaxi program in Munich, pending regulatory approval, with vehicles equipped with Israel-based Autobrains’ agentic AI driving system running on Nvidia’s Drive Hyperion platform.
For fleet operations, TechCrunch says Uber took a 30% stake in Avomo in 2021 and that Avomo manages fleet services such as vehicle cleaning, maintenance, inspections, charging, and depot operations for the Waymo-Uber partnership in Austin.
On delivery, TechCrunch reports that Avride announced a multi-year deal with Uber in October 2024 to bring Avride’s sidewalk delivery robots and autonomous vehicles to both Uber’s delivery unit, Uber Eats, and Uber’s ride-hailing app.
TechCrunch adds that Avride robotaxis built on Hyundai IONIQ 5s were available on the Uber app in Dallas by the end of 2025, and that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Avride in May 2026 after identifying more than a dozen crashes and one minor injury.
Regulatory and market stakes
The TechCrunch tracker frames Uber’s strategy as an ecosystem built from partnerships and investments, with the goal of integrating multiple technologies rather than relying on a single AV player.
“Six US politicians, including President Trump and Nancy Pelosi, have collectively purchased over $6 million in Uber stock in 2026.”
In parallel, Pluang says a bill in Washington, D.C. proposing widespread use of autonomous vehicles faces strong opposition from labor unions concerned about job losses and wage impacts for gig drivers, while noting that Uber has aligned with these unions.
Pluang also reports that six US politicians, including President Trump and Nancy Pelosi, have collectively purchased over $6 million in Uber stock in 2026, tying their investments to confidence in Uber’s growth potential from autonomous vehicles and Uber Eats.
The TechCrunch account adds that Uber’s robotaxis and delivery operations are still subject to safety oversight, including the NHTSA investigation into Avride and the detail that, as of this past June, Avride robotaxis were not driverless and still had a human safety operator behind the wheel.
Separately, the Tech Buzz describes Uber’s approach as building an ecosystem itself through deals with around 30 self-driving car companies over the past two years, positioning Uber as a platform that integrates autonomous vehicles rather than a single supplier.
