Uber and Rivian strike $1.25bn robotaxi deal

"Unlike the company's deals with Waymo, Avride, or Zoox, where Uber is essentially a distribution platform for someone else's autonomous vehicle stack, this one bets on a car maker that has built its own silicon, its own autonomy software, and its own manufacturing, end to end."

"Uber, or its fleet partners, will purchase 10,000 fully autonomous Rivian R2 robotaxis in the first phase of deployment, with an option to negotiate the purchase of up to 40,000 more beginning in 2030. The total 50,000 figure is a ceiling, not a guarantee."

"The deal's logic rests heavily on what Rivian unveiled at its inaugural Autonomy & AI Day in Palo Alto in December 2025. There, the company laid out a full-stack autonomous driving architecture built around RAP1, its first in-house processor: a custom 5nm chip capable of 1,600 sparse TOPS of AI compute, fabricated by TSMC."

Rivian and Uber announced a strategic partnership where Uber will invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian through 2031, contingent on autonomous performance milestones. An initial $300 million commitment follows regulatory approval. Uber will purchase 10,000 fully autonomous Rivian R2 robotaxis initially, with options for up to 40,000 additional vehicles starting in 2030. Commercial robotaxi service launches in San Francisco and Miami in 2028, expanding to 25 cities across North America and Europe by 2031. This partnership differs from Uber's other autonomous deals because Rivian has developed its own chip, autonomy software, and manufacturing capabilities end-to-end, rather than serving as a distribution platform for external autonomous stacks.

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