In July 2025, Uber committed $300 million to Lucid Motors and agreed to purchase 20,000 of the company’s electric SUVs over the next six years. This strategic investment underpins a broader collaboration with autonomous vehicle specialist Nuro, positioning Uber to secure a leading role in the emerging robotaxi market. At CES 2026, all three companies highlighted their shared goal: to launch a commercial self-driving service in the San Francisco Bay Area by late 2026, leveraging Uber’s global ride-hailing infrastructure and Nuro’s autonomous software expertise.

The robotaxi is based on the Lucid Gravity SUV, equipped during assembly at Lucid’s Casa Grande, Arizona plant with integrated lidar, high-resolution cameras and radar sensors. A roof-mounted ‘halo’ houses solid-state lidar and LED lights designed to display rider initials for quick identification. Onboard compute is powered by NVIDIA’s Drive AGX Thor platform, enabling real-time processing of environmental data and safe navigation through complex urban scenarios without the need for aftermarket retrofits.

Uber has designed a bespoke in-vehicle interface featuring multiple screens: a small display on the halo to welcome passengers and a 34-inch curved OLED touchscreen behind the steering wheel for front occupants. Rear passengers access an isometric city-mapping UI showing vehicle trajectory, nearby pedestrians and traffic. The interface also provides estimated drop-off times, climate and audio controls, support buttons and an emergency ‘pull over’ command. This experience mirrors familiar elements from leading robotaxi services while incorporating Uber’s branded design language.

By integrating autonomous hardware directly into Lucid’s production line, the partners avoid time-intensive retrofitting, reducing unit costs and accelerating output. Lucid announced it doubled its 2024 production and hit record sales at the end of the year, indicating improved manufacturing stability. Final validation tests on public roads are underway, and once complete, full-scale production of the robotaxi is set to begin later in 2026, with initial fleet deployments managed by Uber in San Francisco before subsequent rollouts to other major U.S. markets.