Source: www.smartcitiesdive.com, Dan Zuowski, Senior Editor, First Published October April 15th, 2026
The ride-hailing company may begin a shift from driver-owned vehicles to company-owned robotaxi fleets, according to the newspaper.
Waymo, an Alphabet subsidiary that began offering autonomous rides in 2017, now operates in 11 U.S. cities and says it provides more than half a million electric AV rides weekly.
Khosrowshahi said on the call that Uber intends to carry the largest share of AV trips globally by 2029. He urged automakers “to start ramping [up] capacity” to meet the coming demand.
“The asset-light model was genius for its era, but autonomy rewrites the economics,” Nexar CEO Zach Greenberger said in an emailed statement. “By taking equity stakes in AV developers and locking in fleet supply, Uber is trading margin simplicity for structural control of the next decade of mobility.” Nexar develops technologies for autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assistance systems.
Uber employees began taking test rides aboard Lucid electric vehicles in the San Francisco Bay Area this week and began testing autonomous rides in Los Angeles on April 8, with a public launch expected later this year, it said in a post on X.
Uber riders in Atlanta and Austin, Texas, can take a robotaxi through its partnership with Waymo in those cities and in certain areas of Las Vegas in collaboration with Motional.
