Uber to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian to build global robotaxi fleet

Uber Technologies and electric vehicle maker Rivian have announced a massive strategic partnership to deploy a fleet of up to 50,000 fully autonomous robotaxis. The deal, which includes a phased investment of up to $1.25 billion from Uber through 2031, signals a major escalation in the race to dominate the "Autonomous Mobility as a Service" (MaaS) market.

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The collaboration centers on Rivian’s upcoming R2 platform. Under the terms of the agreement, Uber will make an initial $300 million equity investment in Rivian, with the remaining $950 million contingent on the automaker hitting specific technical and autonomy-related milestones.

The first phase of the rollout is scheduled for 2028, with 10,000 R2-based robotaxis launching exclusively on the Uber app in San Francisco and Miami. If performance targets are met, the two companies plan to scale the service to 25 cities across the United States, Canada, and Europe by the end of 2031.

A "capital-light" path to autonomy

The partnership underscores Uber’s strategy of acting as the commercial "operating system" for autonomous vehicles rather than developing its own hardware. By partnering with Rivian, Uber gains access to a vertically integrated EV stack, including Rivian's in-house "RAP1" AI inference chip and multimodal sensor suite, without the multi-billion dollar risk of vehicle manufacturing.

"We’re big believers in Rivian’s approach - designing the vehicle, compute platform, and software stack together," said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. "That vertical integration gives us the conviction to set these ambitious but achievable targets."

Rivian’s pivot to level 4

For Rivian, the deal provides a critical cash infusion and a guaranteed high-volume customer as it scales its R2 production. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe noted that the partnership will "accelerate our path to level 4 autonomy," leveraging the company's "data flywheel" from its growing consumer vehicle base.

The R2 robotaxis will be "unsupervised," meaning they are designed to operate without a human safety driver in designated areas. While Rivian remains unprofitable, analysts suggest the $1.25 billion commitment from Uber provides a necessary buffer as the company competes with established players like Alphabet’s Waymo and Tesla’s nascent robotaxi service.

The deal also includes an option for Uber to negotiate the purchase of an additional 40,000 vehicles starting in 2030, potentially bringing the total fleet size to 50,000 units.