Cruise, the autonomous driving arm of General Motors, has entered into a comprehensive partnership spanning several years with the ride-sharing behemoth Uber to integrate its self-operating taxis onto the Uber platform by 2025.
While the exact timeline for when Cruise’s vehicles will be accessible through Uber remains undisclosed, a representative shared with TechCrunch that the initiative will coincide with Cruise’s reinitiation of its own autonomous driving service.
This collaboration signals Cruise’s efforts to re-deploy its autonomous vehicles on public streets, following an incident last October where one of its robotaxis was involved in an accident with a pedestrian (who was initially hit by a car driven by a person, catapulting her into the robotaxi’s trajectory). Additionally, this move is in alignment with remarks made by Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, emphasizing Uber’s strategic positioning as the premier launch partner for firms in the autonomous vehicle sector wishing to bring their technologies to market.
Uber has notably already established a relationship with Waymo in the autonomous ride-sharing sector, with Waymo’s vehicles available through the Uber app in Phoenix since October 2023.
Prior to the accident that led to the revocation of its autonomous operation permits in California and the sidelining of its U.S. fleet, Cruise was rapidly expanding its services. It offered paid autonomous rides in various cities including San Francisco, Austin, Houston, and Phoenix, alongside initiating driverless tests in Miami.
In April 2024, Cruise recommenced manual testing of its robotaxis in Phoenix, later broadening these trials to include Dallas and Houston.
Engaging proactively with regulators in anticipation of its service relaunch, Cruise today announced the recall of its 1,194 autonomous vehicles to address a safety concern flagged by a federal investigation into unanticipated braking incidents. In June, an agreement to pay a settlement of $112,500 to California’s regulatory bodies was reached by Cruise, pertaining to its management of communications after last fall’s incident, paving the way for a resumption of its operations in the state.
Echoing earlier statements from this month, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted, “Uber stands in a unique position to extend significant benefits to autonomous vehicle entities aiming to deploy their technology at a larger scale,” highlighting the complex nature of running a ride-hailing network masked by its technological infrastructure.
He further explained that while autonomous vehicles represent a considerable investment, Uber could significantly enhance their utilization rates.
“Without requiring autonomous vehicle companies to sink funds into customer acquisition or develop the market technology that meets the reliability consumers expect, Uber can generate substantial demand,” said Khosrowshahi.
In the domain of food delivery, Uber has forged partnerships with autonomous vehicle startup Nuro, and robot delivery companies Serve Robotics and Cartken. It also collaborates with autonomous trucking enterprises Waabi and Aurora Innovation, which have yet to achieve fully autonomous operations without a human driver.
With more potential partnerships anticipated to be announced soon, Uber has recently entered into an agreement with Chinese electric vehicle (EV) pioneer BYD to introduce 100,000 new EVs to its platform in international markets. The partnership is also set to explore “future BYD autonomous-capable vehicles” for Uber’s platform, with BYD committing to a $14 billion investment in autonomous vehicle technology in June.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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