Forget Tesla, Uber Could Emerge as the Biggest Autonomous Vehicle Maker

Uber Eats announced a multiyear partnership with Nuro, one of the country's leading autonomous vehicle manufacturers. Starting this fall, customers in Texas and California can get their food delivered by driverless robots and skip the tips. The companies plan to expand the service to the San Francisco Bay Area after getting their driverless delivery network up and running. The agreement marks the second autonomous delivery partnership for Uber Eats, which launched a similar service with Motional in Santa Monica, California, this past May.

Uber Eats has entered into partnerships with other autonomous vehicle service providers as well.  Uber similarly just expanded a partnership with Motional, a third-party delivery platform, to launch autonomous delivery in Santa Monica, Calif. Under that deal, deliveries will be conducted in Motional's IONIQ 5 vehicles, which are capable of operating autonomously.

These deals highlight Uber's evolving business strategy since the company sold off its in-house autonomous vehicle program a year ago. Following the pandemic, the market for last-mile autonomous delivery of meals, groceries, and other goods is primed for expansion. The Nuro deal signals a deepening commitment by Uber not just to playing in that space, but also to dominating it.

"Nuro and Uber share a vision in which technology can make everyday life just a little bit easier," said Noah Zych, global head of autonomous mobility and delivery at Uber. "Nuro's distinctive autonomous vehicles are a great match for the Uber platform, and this partnership will bring a compelling combination of innovation alongside the convenience, affordability and reliability our customers and merchants have come to expect." Uber's partnership with Nuro is an expansion of the former's efforts across autonomous mobility and delivery. The first rollouts will take place in Mountain View and Houston.

Such developments with Uber can make it the biggest autonomous vehicle maker surpassing Tesla.