UBER LAUNCHES AUTONOMOUS SOLUTIONS TO POWER THIRD-PARTY ROBOTAXI FLEETS

After retreating from building its own self-driving cars, Uber is doubling down on a different strategy: becoming the operating system for autonomous fleets.

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The company announced a new initiative called Uber Autonomous Solutions, a support platform designed to help third-party robotaxi partners deploy, scale, and manage autonomous vehicles on Uber's ride-hailing network. The move formalizes a strategy that has quietly been taking shape for years — Uber will not design or manufacture robotaxis, but it intends to sit at the center of their commercial ecosystem.

FROM ATG TO PARTNERSHIPS

Uber's ambitions in autonomous driving once centered on in-house development. That effort unraveled in 2018 following a fatal crash involving one of its test vehicles in Arizona. The incident led to regulatory scrutiny, internal restructuring, and ultimately the sale of Uber’s Advanced Technology Group to Aurora Innovation in 2020.

Rather than exiting autonomy altogether, Uber pivoted.

With roughly 30 million rides facilitated daily across its global platform, Uber retains one of the most valuable assets in mobility: demand aggregation. Instead of building vehicles, it began striking agreements with autonomous vehicle developers who need access to riders, routing intelligence, and large-scale dispatch infrastructure.

Uber Autonomous Solutions is the next step in that transition.

A PLATFORM FOR ROBOTAXI OPERATORS