Uber Taps Rivian to Build Robotaxis in Deal Worth Up to $1.25B
Bolt and Nvidia partner to scale AVs, Ex-Uber ATG Head Recounts Tesla FSD Crash, and Are Waymos transporting unaccompanied minors?
We just announced the first round of speakers for our flagship Curbivore conference on April 17th in Los Angeles; grab discounted tickets while they’re still available.
Top Stories of the Week
Uber taps Rivian to build robotaxis in deal worth up to $1.25B (link). Rivian is teaming up with Uber to roll out thousands of robotaxis built on its upcoming R2 SUV. The deal starts with a $300M investment from Uber, along with plans to purchase around 10,000 fully autonomous R2 vehicles ahead of a targeted 2028 launch in San Francisco and Miami. Uber would also have the option to buy up to 40,000 additional autonomous R2 SUVs starting in 2030.
This is an exciting partnership, but it's a ways off and Rivian has a lot to do to make this happen (see below). The biggest question though is autonomy. Rivian’s “Hands-Free” system today feels closer to where Tesla Autopilot was 8 to 10 years ago. That said, the pace of progress is accelerating, hardware costs are coming down, and the broader ecosystem has matured significantly, so let’s see how quickly Rivian can close the gap.
Rivian hasn’t started producing the R2 SUV yet; it has said manufacturing is expected to begin by June. Nor has it tested and deployed a self-driving system designed for robotaxis. To raise the hurdle even higher, the robotaxi is supposed to be built in Rivian’s Georgia factory, which is still under construction.
Related: Rivian sacrifices 2027 profit goal to push deeper into autonomy (link).
U.S. paves road for vehicles with no steering wheel (link). The feds are moving to modernize vehicle safety rules to accommodate fully autonomous vehicles that lack traditional controls like steering wheels and pedals, signaling a shift away from human-centric design requirements. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is fast-tracking exemptions for companies like Zoox and considering removing outdated standards that don’t apply to AVs, while also preparing updated safety guidance for the first time since 2017. At the same time, Congress is revisiting long-stalled legislation that could establish a national framework and significantly expand deployment caps for driverless vehicles.
“We are in a race, right? Everyone is trying to have the best technology that will be deployed around the world,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told stakeholders at an AV safety forum in Washington, D.C., last week.
Related: Here’s a recording of the National AV Safety Forum, hosted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on March 10, 2026 (link). It featured prominent speakers like Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana and Zoox CEO Aicha Evans, among others.
Other Stuff
Former Uber CEO (Travis Kalanick) says Waymo is ahead in the robotaxi race — and Tesla is chasing a ‘ChatGPT moment’ (link, no paywall). This comes from his recent appearance on the All-In podcast, where he shared his outlook on the current autonomy landscape:
Waymo obviously is ahead; the existence proof is there. Their issue is manufacturing and scale and urgency and fierceness,” said Kalanick…The former Uber boss said Tesla had the technical “fundamentals” needed to execute its own vision for a nationwide robotaxi service — but said that the company’s ambitious goals meant it faced a more uncertain timeline.
Related: Uber co-founder Kalanick launches Atoms in specialized robotics push (link, no paywall) that, according to its website, will operate in the food, mining, and transportation industries.
Are Driverless Cars Safe? Waymo’s C.E.O. Has Been Trying to Make the Case (link, no paywall).
We’re excited to announce our first round of speakers for Curbivore 2026, happening in Downtown LA on April 17.
Join autonomy, mobility, and delivery leaders for a can’t-miss gathering re-shaping the future of curbside commerce. Register now and use the code Autonomy25 to save an extra 25%.
Trapped! Inside a Self-Driving Car During an Anti-Robot Attack (link, no paywall).
The man punched the car’s windows and tried lifting up the vehicle. He then yelled that he wanted to kill Mr. Fulop and the other two passengers for giving money to a robot. A taxi driver would have simply driven away. But Mr. Fulop’s vehicle had no driver.
Waymo’s new safety data is in (link). Over 170M miles through Dec 2025, the Waymo Driver was involved in 13x fewer serious injury or worse crashes than human drivers in those same cities.
Bolt and Nvidia to build AI backbone for European robotaxis (link).
Nvidia adds Hyundai, BYD and other automakers to self-driving tech business (link).
Kodiak AI Scales Autonomous Driving with NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion (link).
Rivian Aims For ‘Second Largest’ Self-Driving Fleet After Tesla, CEO Says (link).
Complaint filed over Waymo allegedly transporting minors alone (link). I drove by Hamilton High School in Los Angeles the other day right at dismissal and counted five Waymos picking up students.
Waymo’s current policy doesn’t allow unaccompanied minors, and regulators in California haven’t formally approved it yet. But in practice, it’s clearly happening anyway.
What’s interesting is how this compares to Uber and Lyft. There, the restriction on minors actually makes a lot of sense given the risks that come with a human driver. Personally, I would never let a teenage girl ride alone with a rideshare driver. But with Waymo, the calculus feels different. No driver, full trip monitoring, and a controlled system arguably make it a safer and more predictable option for kids in many cases.
My Tesla Was Driving Itself Perfectly—Until It Crashed (link, no paywall). Raffi Krikorian, former head of Uber ATG (Uber’s former self-driving division), recounts his accident while riding in his Tesla running Full Self-Driving. Good reminder of the core difference between Tesla and Waymo: Waymo takes responsibility for the ride, Tesla still puts it on the driver. If Tesla ever flips that switch and owns the liability, that’s when things get interesting.
Related: ‘FSD v14.2.2.4 Sudden Disengagement sent me into a barrier. Car is totaled’ (link). The tricky part with posts like this is we don’t actually know what happened. Without the data logs, it’s unclear whether it was a true disengagement on Tesla’s side or if the driver intervened.
Google’s Waymo Eyes South Korea Market Entry (link).
What else we’re reading/listening to
Platform Aeronaut by Thomas Reiner: Uber Is Quietly Winning the AV Rideshare Setup (link). I think Waymo’s model with Lyft in Nashville will actually be the future: capture first party riders directly who are willing to pay more and wait longer, and use demand aggregators like Lyft and/or Uber to fill in the gaps.
That said, near to medium term, I’d be a bit concerned about Uber’s partnership with Waymo. Waymo has already announced a dozen-plus markets beyond Austin and Atlanta without Uber, which feels telling.
The Chips Powering Autonomous Driving with Augustin Friedel (link). Our latest guest podcast episode featuring the Autonomy Insiders podcast, where Daniel Abreu Marques sits down with Augustin Friedel to discuss the critical role of high-performance silicon in autonomous driving, exploring the evolution of System-on-a-Chip (SoC) technology, the key factors driving chip selection, and the intensifying competition among providers. You can also catch up on his earlier episode with Charlotte Eisner, Head of Commercialization & Partnerships at Bolt (link).
Tech Foundation of WeRide and Bot.Auto - Tony Han & Xiaodi Hou (link).
AV Events
Panel 8 on Day 2 of the Public Law Conference 2026, hosted by the California Lawyers Association, takes place on March 20 from 12:45–1:45 PM (link). Titled “Driving the Future – Autonomous Vehicles in California,” the panel will feature Pat Tsen, Deputy Executive Director for Consumer Policy, Transportation, and Enforcement at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
We’ll also be having Pat on the TDD podcast on Monday to discuss the CPUC’s role in AV deployments across California—subscribe now so your feed updates automatically.
Every Ride AI Attendee Gets a Free Waymo Ride - Limited Tickets Remaining (link). The event is set for April 15, 2026, at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, and our Curbivore conference is a couple days later on April 17th in Los Angeles.
They’ve also lined up an impressive group of speakers, including Wayve CEO Alex Kendall, Aurora co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson, Pony.ai CFO Leo Wang, and Terawatt CEO Neha Palmer, among others. TDD readers can grab tickets with $250 off here (link).
Axios’ Driving the Future of Autonomous Vehicles, presented by Aurora (link).
AVs/Humans behaving badly
Tiktoker films video breaking a Waymo’s mirrors (link).
‘Tesla driver and passenger asleep on highway’ (link).
‘Police help man after passing out in Waymo’ (link). Honestly impressive that this guy was that intoxicated during the day.
‘Waymo wants to pick me up under a highway while blocking the only traffic lane (Orlando)’ (link).
‘A child exiting a Waymo allegedly opened the door onto an oncoming car. The driver is frustrated about the insurance process’ (link). As commenters mention, I imagine it would be best to let your insurance company handle this one.
‘Ojai stuck in the middle of the intersection while traffic is coming the other way’ (link).
‘Waymo stuck on a one way HOV lane in Houston’ (link).
Neat Jobs
AV Remote Assistance Specialist at Uber (link) via Brian Kim.
Story & Content Creation, Senior Specialist at Motional (link) via Alan Hall.
Mechanical Engineer at Waabi (link) via JD Wagner.
Senior/Staff Identity and Access Management (IAM) Engineer at Zoox (link) via Natalie B.
Here’s a full list of the jobs we’ve featured (link).
Job Moves
Douglas Murphy: Revel -> Waymo (link).
Nini Ren: AWS -> Waymo (link).
Jonathan Baines: Fleet Operations Lead at Lyft Flexdrive (link).
Shout-outs
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Until next week :)
-Harry