August 8, 2025

Uber is gearing up for a big splash in the robotaxi world! The ride-hailing giant has been offering robotaxis by Alphabet's Waymo in Austin and Atlanta, giving riders a glimpse of the driverless future. Now, Uber wants to ramp up fast. In July, it signed a thrilling $300 million deal to deploy over 20,000 vehicles made by Lucid, powered by Nuro's cutting-edge self-driving tech, over the next six years. But wait, there’s more! CEO Dara Khosrowshahi revealed on Wednesday that Uber is chatting with private equity firms and banks to raise money to fuel this robotaxi dream. He explained that three smart business models are on the table: paying fixed rates to partners who own the cars, sharing profits with fleet operators, and Uber owning vehicles but licensing out the software. With about $7 billion in yearly cash flow, Uber plans to use a modest chunk of that to kick-start the roll-out. Plus, they might sell small stakes in companies to support expansion. Khosrowshahi confidently said, "Once we prove the revenue model, how much these cars can generate on a per day basis, there will be plenty of financing to go around." Other giants like Tesla and Waymo are also racing to launch their own robotaxi services, despite regulatory hurdles and questions about how fast people will adopt them. Tesla started robotaxis in Austin in June and just expanded to the San Francisco Bay Area. Waymo is already in five US cities, including San Francisco. Uber noted that since Tesla began in Austin and San Francisco, it hasn't seen any big changes in demand yet. In the words of Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management, "To a lot of these companies, it does seem this will be a worthwhile endeavor ... as there are lofty predictions about the robotaxi industry's total addressable market." Will Uber’s bold bet on driverless rides shake up the future of transport? Hold on tight, the robotaxi revolution is just accelerating!

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Tags: Uber, Robotaxis, Waymo, Autonomous vehicles, Ride-hailing, Self-driving technology,