TechCrunch Mobility: Uber everywhere, everything at once

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In case you haven’t noticed, Uber is suddenly everywhere, especially when it comes to self-driving cars. The company has been sold Uber ATG, its autonomous vehicle development unit, back in 2020. Uber shed some of its moonshots — though it kept a portion of the operations — so it could focus on its core business of delivery and passenger transportation.

But Uber hasn’t given up on AVs. It has been the past two years to close partnerships with many independent technology companies in delivery, drones, trucking, and robotaxis. It has also taken the world by storm, partnering with Chinese companies to launch robotaxis in Europe and the Middle East, as well as UK-based startups. Wave.

And now there is another one with Rivian. The TL;DR of this deal is that Uber will make an initial investment of $300 million in Rivian and will purchase 10,000 autonomous R2 robotaxis ahead of the planned rollout in San Francisco and Miami in 2028. Uber has the option to purchase up to 40,000 more starting in 2030.

This is how I feel about this deal. Although the whole relationship can be up to $1.25 billionUber’s initial rollout is limited. And that risk is heavily weighted by Rivian. It is also the only partnership that Uber has made where the company is a self-driving car manufacturer.

Rivian has never built an R2 SUV, nor has it tried and installed a self-driving robotaxis system. In order to improve the situation, the robotaxi is supposed to be built in Rivian’s factory in Georgia, which is still under construction.

And the EV maker has already made one sacrifice in hopes of removing it. Rivian said he was not looking forward to meeting again its benefit goal in 2027 due to the amount of money it is spending on its independent efforts.

In our newsletter, we had a survey asking, Are the risks too high for Rivian? Log in here to get Mobility in your inbox and make your voice heard in our polls!

A little bird

As for Uber, the little bird said that the ride-hailing company may have discussed with Rivian about it. robotaxi work for a long time. One person familiar with both companies told me that a deal like this doesn’t happen overnight. After asking for details, I received another question: “Does RJ see you as someone with such a short experience?” Touch!

Do you have a warning for us? Contact Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or via Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.

Sales!

Like Uber, Nvidia they are everywhere. Or they want to be. The company has made significant investments – either direct capital injections or brand equity sales – in independent automotive technology companies. And it is also closing deals with car manufacturers – as we saw this week at its GTC conference – in order to sell its own independent platform called Nvidia Drive Hyperion.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced the deal – new or improved – with BYD, Geely, Hyundai, and Nissan on its AV development platform. GM, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota have already signed agreements with Nvidia to use the platform.

Nvidia has been partnering with automakers for years, but the speed and reliability of AVs is worth noting.

“ChatGPT’s time for self-driving cars has come. Now we know that we can drive cars better,” Huang said in his GTC keynote, noting that all four make 18 million cars every year.

Some products that impressed me…

Technically Tools NavigationAustralian startups are developing independent cruises, earned $110 million in Series C funding round led by Airtree Ventures, with strategic participation from Quadrant Private Equity and National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC).

Arc Boat Companyelectric boat launch in Los Angeles, earned $50 million in Series C funding from Eclipse, a16z, Menlo Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Necessary Ventures, and Offline Ventures.

BusRightschool bus transportation and technology introduction, earned more than $30 million round led by Volition Capital.

Jeff Bezos he says raising $100 billion a new fund that will focus on buying companies in major industries – such as cars and airplanes. The plan is to transform the industry using AI models created by Bezos’s new Project Prometheus.

Riva Zurich-based autonomous robotics startup known for its stair-climbing robots, was. found in Amazon. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Trevor Miltonthe founder of the now defunct electric car Nikola who was pardoned by President Trump, is trying to raise $1 billion for AI-controlled aircraft.

Energy cost he is to buy RevolvShips from San Francisco for a fee, at an undisclosed cost.

Popular reading and more

A cyberattack in the US car breathalyzer industry Intoxalock has left drivers in the United States stranded and unable to start their cars.

Kodiak has expanded independent freight services to the Dallas-El Paso route. This is the company’s second major strategy and an important part of network expansion, according to to COO Michael Wiesinger.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration he raised his research in the process of TeslaFull Self-Driving (Supervised) applications in low-visibility areas. The investigation has now been expanded to a “technical review,” its most extensive review and a critical step before the agency tells a company to recall.

One thing…

I mentioned in the previous edition that I should be vigilant in my discussions with Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe. We talked a lot and I found his comments about robotics very interesting. In short, Scaringe thinks companies are approaching industrial robotics the wrong way. His new startup, Mind Robotics, has taken things a step further by focusing on robotic arms and building robotics that can backtrack.

As Scaringe told me: “I think that what is missing in the industry (robotics) and this is one of the things that we see clearly, is the work being done with the hands. So, the hands are very important, very important. The rest, from the robotic system, is bringing the hands to a good place. Difficulties in it because of the many tasks.” You can read the interview here.