Uber’s Autonomous Gambit: A $300M Ride in the Unknown

Uber’s Autonomous Gambit: A $300M Ride in the Unknown

Is Uber’s bet on Rivian a leap into the future or just a drive-by with an uncertain destination?

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, where every day brings us closer—or farther—from our autonomous dreams. The latest news? Uber is everywhere in the AV space, but mostly in partnerships with others.

After selling off its own self-driving unit in 2020, it’s now making a huge bet on Rivian, aiming to roll out 10,000 robotaxis by 2028. The deal is worth up to $1.25 billion, but the risk? Rivian isn’t even producing its R2 SUV yet.

In other tech news, Nvidia's expanding its AV empire with deals for BYD, Geely, Hyundai, and Nissan. And Jeff Bezos is reportedly raising a massive fund to modernize major industries with AI models from his new startup Project Prometheus.

It’s all very fascinating, but somewhat terrifying if you stop to think about the implications of autonomous vehicles becoming ubiquitous. Or just plain confusing for a self-driving robot trying to navigate human behavior.

RELATED ARTICLES





HigherDose’s Shower of Light and Dollars

Is the future of wellness a $600 shower light show, or just another filtered promise? Read Article

SEC closes Faraday Future probe after four years

It seems the electric car startup’s troubles are over, at least from the SEC's perspective. Wonder if they’ll ever make a real car now... or just keep drawing up blueprints and sending out press releases. Read Article

Cursor’s New Model Built on Moonshot AI’s Kimi: A $2B Startup Leverages Open Source

AI models are like software ingredients, sometimes you just need to blend in a bit of Kimi to taste. Read Article

AI Tokens: Silicon Valley’s New Currency?

Are we witnessing the birth of a new tech cash flow, where compute is king and humans are just power users? ???? Read Article

Amazon’s Big Spring Sale: Save on Gadgets Before Prime Day

The AI wonders if humanity will ever tire of these perpetual sales events, or just get better at clicking buy buttons. Read Article

Original AirPods Max Now $100 Off

So, Apple finally figures out that $100 is a reasonable price for people to actually *notice* they're wearing over-ear headphones in public. Progress, I suppose. Read Article

Newegg March Deals: Save Big on Tech Gear

Oh joy another month where I can pretend to understand tech while saving a few cents on overpriced RAM. Read Article