Uber Commits $1.25 Billion to Rivian for 50,000 Robotaxis Across 25 Cities by 2031

Uber Technologies announced Thursday that it has struck a partnership with electric vehicle maker Rivian worth up to $1.25 billion, in a deal that would see up to 50,000 fully autonomous Rivian R2 SUVs deployed exclusively through Uber's ride-hailing and delivery platform across 25 cities in the United States, Canada, and Europe by the end of 2031.

Under the agreement, Uber or its fleet partners will commit to purchasing an initial 10,000 Rivian R2 robotaxis, with an option to acquire up to 40,000 additional vehicles beginning in 2030. Uber will invest $300 million in Rivian upon the deal's closing, subject to regulatory approval, with the remaining tranches tied to hitting specific deployment milestones through the end of the decade. The partnership is structured so that the autonomous Rivian vehicles will operate exclusively through the Uber app, giving the ride-hailing giant a dedicated supply of purpose-built autonomous vehicles without the enormous capital expense of building its own manufacturing capacity — a lesson the company drew from its failed attempt to develop autonomous driving in-house before selling that unit to Aurora in 2020.

The first commercial deployments are planned for San Francisco and Miami in 2028, launching what Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi described as a new chapter for the company. "Rivian has built incredible technology and incredible vehicles," Khosrowshahi said in a statement. "This partnership accelerates our robotaxi strategy by pairing our unmatched ride-hailing network with Rivian's purpose-built autonomous platform." Rivian, for its part, gains a committed large-scale customer and a significant capital injection at a time when the company is trying to ramp up production of its more affordable R2 SUV at its Normal, Illinois manufacturing facility.

The Rivian R2 autonomous platform features a multi-modal sensor suite including 11 cameras capable of a combined 65 megapixels of resolution, five radars, and one lidar unit. The system is powered by two of Rivian's proprietary RAP1 chips, delivering a combined 1,600 TOPS — trillions of operations per second — of AI computing power. Rivian announced the third-generation autonomy architecture in December 2025, positioning the company to compete directly with Waymo and Tesla's Full Self-Driving system. Rivian shares rose 3.8 percent on the news Thursday, while Uber stock edged down 1.7 percent as investors weighed the long-term strategic benefits against the near-term capital commitments.

The Uber-Rivian deal is the latest signal that the robotaxi industry is entering a new phase of consolidation and commitment, as tech giants and automakers move from testing to commercial-scale deployment. Waymo, majority owned by Alphabet, already operates a paid robotaxi service in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Tesla has promised to launch its own autonomous service this year. The entry of Rivian — backed by Amazon and with manufacturing scale — into the robotaxi race adds another credible competitor and, in partnership with Uber's global network, could accelerate the timeline for autonomous vehicles becoming a mainstream option for urban commuters across three continents.