Stellantis and NVIDIA to Power Uber’s Future Robotaxi Fleet
Boston wants to ban autonomous vehicles, Uber to take on Waymo in San Francisco, and Inside Tesla’s approach to autonomy
Top Stories of the Week
Uber, Stellantis, Nvidia, and Foxconn make a robotaxi deal (link). According to the deal, Stellantis will handle the car manufacturing (with its “AV-ready” platforms like the K0 van and STLA Small), while Nvidia and Foxconn take care of the self-driving tech and hardware integration. Uber, naturally, will put the finished AV product on its ridehailing platform — starting in the US with about 5,000 vehicles. Production is set to kick off in 2028, though details on exact cities are still under wraps.
It’s been a while since a major OEM has dared to jump back into the AV arena, but this might be the right moment to do so (for once). Nvidia, of course, is the other heavyweight in the mix, but they don’t operate fleets, run robotaxi services, or own driving data loops (yet, see below) — all of which are the true differentiators in autonomy today (think Waymo, Wayve, Nuro, etc.). So yes, there are plenty of big names involved, but with production not slated to begin until 2028, it’s going to be a while before these vehicles hit the road.
Uber Eyes Fleet of 100,000 Nvidia-Based Robotaxis Beginning 2027 (link, no paywall). Uber plans to deploy up to 100,000 autonomous vehicles powered by Nvidia technology starting in 2027, as part of a broader effort to scale its driverless operations. In return, Uber will share portions of its driving and ride data to help Nvidia refine its AI models and automotive chip platforms. The 100,000 target encompasses the roughly 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs and Nuro robotaxis Uber previously agreed to purchase and operate with partners over the next six years, as well as the 5,000 vehicles included in its new Stellantis partnership mentioned above.
So it looks like Nvidia is making a push to become the AV operating system for the industry — providing the compute (Orin, Thor), the middleware (Drive OS, DriveWorks), simulation (Omniverse, DriveSim), and even neural-network training services.
Their pitch to automakers and fleet operators is essentially: “Don’t build your own autonomy stack from scratch — use ours, plug in your sensors, customize the top layer, and we’ll handle the rest.” But that strategy also puts Nvidia in partial competition with some of its own customers — including companies like Nuro and Wayve — that are developing their own full-stack autonomy solutions built on top of Nvidia hardware.
I’m not sure what the best approach will be but it’s clear that all of these companies and their investors see a lot of opportunity.
Other Stuff
Uber to Take on Waymo in San Francisco With Lucid, Nuro Robotaxis (link, no paywall). Uber is preparing to roll out fully driverless rides in the San Francisco Bay Area as early as next year, using vehicles built by Lucid (the Gravity SUV) equipped with self-driving tech from Nuro. The rollout will pit Uber directly against Waymo in its home market of San Francisco. Uber and its partners say the first engineering fleet (over 100 vehicles) is already being built, with a broader goal of deploying tens of thousands of autonomous taxis in multiple cities over the next several years.
This was a busy week for Uber on the AV front and I’m excited to see Waymo and Uber go head to head for AV rides in San Francisco. Waymo has done a great job capturing market share but Uber has plenty of demand, so this could get interesting.
Full interview of Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 (link).
Waymo isn’t interested in a move fast, break things work culture (link, no paywall). Waymo is definitely setting a high bar when it comes to a safety-first culture and not moving fast and breaking things. But they’re in an industry where competitors are trying to catch up and they may need to push the limits to catch up.
Waymo co-CEO on robotaxi vandalism: ‘We’re not standing for it’ (link). Waymo of course doesn’t stand for vandalism but I haven’t heard any concrete plans around what they’re going to do to stop it.
Related: Waymo just vandalized in DTLA (link).
Tesla’s approach to Autonomy (link).
Uber Is Said to Plan Investing in Hong Kong Listings of Pony AI, WeRide (link, no paywall).
Tesla signals Cybercab might actually get a steering wheel (link).
I don’t think we should try to block the progress of AVs but I do think it’s reasonable to think about the trade-offs. Human drivers typically earn 60-70% of the passenger’s fare but with AVs, that money will no longer be fed into the local economy. And of course, what will happen to the millions of current drivers as AVs proliferate?
It’s probably more the responsibility of the government to worry about this issue and re-training workers, but I’m not holding my breath there. Instead, I think Waymo needs to address the elephant in the room, and start setting expectations for human drivers. Waymo has said that AVs will increase the pie and there will be ample re-training opportunities for drivers. But I’m not convinced that the former is true, given the geometric and physical constraints of cities. And on the latter point, drivers don’t want different jobs, but they also may not have much of a choice. One unique idea I’ve heard floated around would be a benefits fund for displaced workers, similar to how Uber pays taxes in the cities they operate, that help bolster public transportation. I can’t imagine Waymo would want to offer this up on their own but it could be a strong bargaining chip in the future since this problem is only going to get worse..
Related: Waymo faces protests in Seattle amid concerns over impact on local rideshare drivers (link).
Tesla Expands Robotaxi Operations to 80% of Austin (link). But still has a driver in the passenger seat ;)
Aurora Expands Humanless Operations In 2026 With Next Gen Platform (link). But there’s still an ‘onboard observer’ in the cab.
(Waymo) Creating an all-weather Driver (link).
GM says hands-free, eyes-off driving is coming to Escalade IQ in 2028 (link).
Uber CEO says all cars will be autonomous in ‘20 plus years.’ Driving will be ‘something like horseback riding.’ (link).
San Francisco Woman Gets Into A Waymo. Then She Uses It For DoorDash (link).
A New Road Safety Group Targets Self-Driving Cars (link, no paywall).
‘Cars just wanna be Waymos for halloween’ (link). I honestly don’t get this campaign.
What else we’re reading/listening to
Platform Aeronaut by
: Uber × Nuro / Lucid / Stellantis / Nvidia: The Next Phase of Rideshare Autonomy | PA Dispatch No. 5 (link).What If Your Autonomous Vehicle Could Run Errands for You? | Autolane Interview (link).
Inside Bot Auto’s Driverless Trucking Milestone with CEO Xiaodi Hou (link). My latest podcast episode with Dr. Xiaodi Hou, founder and CEO of Bot Auto, explores how the company is pushing toward fully driver-out autonomous trucking. We discuss Bot Auto’s recent human-less validation run, the evolving AV landscape, and what it takes to commercialize autonomy. Xiaodi shares insights on cost savings from driver-out operations, the economics of running a driverless fleet, and how Bot Auto balances cutting-edge tech with business realities — all while creating value alongside, not against, human drivers.
Cool Rides
‘For the first time, I rode in a Waymo autonomous car and watched delivery robots calmly rolling down the sidewalks’ (link).
‘I arrived in Vegas today and immediately tried out the Zoox robotaxi service’ (link).
‘Last week I finally went in a driverless taxi!’ (link).
‘Loving this Waymo ride through San Francisco — just chillin’, soaking up the view’ (link).
AVs/Humans behaving badly
Waymo fails to yield at intersection blocked by police (link). Oops.
Austin Woman Says She Regularly Cuts Off Waymos. It’s Not Just Her—Are They Making Us Worse Drivers? (link).
Waymo takes 96 y.o. on joyride for her birthday (link).
Neat Jobs
Strategy Principal at Waymo (link) via Alexis Wang.
Vehicle Operator, Autopilot at Tesla (link) via Roberta C.
East Coast Policy Associate at Waymo (link) via Matthew Walsh.
Supervisor, Robotaxi Fleet Support (Night Shift) at Tesla (link) via Reece Bickerdyke.
2026 Summer Intern, BS/MS, Compute Systems, Mechanical Engineer at Waymo (link) via David Van Dyke.
ICs and managers for several teams in perception at Zoox, via Bat El Shlomo Eyal.
AV/Mobility Events
Mark your calendars — the curb is calling (again), this time louder and better!
and I are excited to share that Curbivore 2026 is rolling back into Downtown Los Angeles on April 16th & 17th! (link for tickets).Florida Automated Vehicles Summit (November 5-7, Orlando). The FAV Summit unites policymakers, innovators, and researchers to shape the future of transportation, through conversations redefining mobility (link).
Urban Tech Summit (November 11-12, New York City) — Is New York City Ready For Autonomous Vehicles? (link).
Until next week.
-Harry