Uber Bets $1.25B on Rivian Robotaxis in Fleet Expansion Push

Uber has committed up to $1.25 billion to Rivian Automotive Inc. for an initial fleet of 10,000 R2 robotaxis, with a $300 million upfront investment. The deal includes an option to expand to 50,000 vehicles by 2030, marking one of the largest autonomous vehicle deployments to date. Rivian shares surged 10% on the announcement.

The partnership accelerates Uber's pivot toward autonomous ride-hailing, following its recent collaboration with Nvidia on AI-driven taxis. Initial deployments will target San Francisco and Miami in 2028, scaling to 25 cities within three years. "This vertically integrated approach—combining Rivian's manufacturing scale with our mobility platform—creates the safest autonomy stack," said Uber's mobility chief.

While Uber stock dipped slightly Thursday, it remains up 3% for the week. The move intensifies competition with Waymo and Cruise in the robotaxi space, where regulatory hurdles and technology costs have delayed widespread adoption.