Uber plans San Francisco robotaxis in Waymo challenge

Uber said Wednesday it will launch its own robotaxi service in San Francisco late next year, taking on Google-owned Waymo on the rideshare giant's home streets.

The announcement came a day after Uber and Nvidia touted an alliance to deploy 100,000 robotaxis starting in 2027.

"The future is on its way," Uber said in the post on X, adding that on-road development of more than 100 self-driving Lucid vehicles for the robotaxi program is in progress.

Uber currently lets users in a few US cities hail robotaxis operated by Waymo.

Nvidia earlier this week announced it was working with carmakers Stellantis, Lucid, and Mercedes-Benz to deploy 100,000 robotaxis starting in 2027, as the AI chip giant works to put itself at the core of self-driving vehicle systems.

Artificial intelligence, along with super-fast, reliable internet connectivity, promises to be essential for cars to react safely and smartly on the road.

Waymo robotaxis have grown in popularity in San Francisco, and even become a tourist attraction, since the service began testing here in 2021 and opened to the general public last year.

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Waymo's fleet in the area is estimated at more than 800 vehicles and the company recently announced plans to launch its robotaxis in London next year.

London would mark the first foray into Europe for Waymo, already present in a growing number of US cities.

Chinese internet giant Baidu earlier this year announced plans to launch robotaxis on the rideshare app Lyft in Germany and Britain in 2026, pending regulatory approval.

Baidu has announced a similar agreement with Uber in Asia and the Middle East as it seeks to take pole position in the competitive autonomous driving field both at home and abroad.

Source: AFP