Uber and autonomous vehicle company Cruise, owned by GM, have announced a partnership to bring robotaxis to the Uber platform, as stated in a press release.
The collaboration is set to begin next year with a fleet of autonomous vehicles. Once the robotaxis are operational, Uber riders may have the option to select an AV for their qualifying ride within the Uber app.
Cruise CEO Marc Whitten expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “We are excited to partner with Uber to bring the benefits of safe, reliable, autonomous driving to even more people, unlocking a new era of urban mobility,” in the press release.
Following its discontinuation of the self-driving unit in 2020, Uber has been focusing on forming partnerships to advance its autonomous initiatives.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also commented on the partnership, saying, “As the largest mobility and delivery platform, we believe Uber can play an important role in helping to safely and reliably introduce autonomous technology to consumers and cities around the world,” in the press release.
This partnership signals a positive development for Cruise, which faced challenges such as withdrawing all its AVs from the roads after an incident in San Francisco where a pedestrian was hit and dragged by one of its vehicles. However, Cruise has resumed supervised driving in three cities since then. In addition, Cruise recently agreed to recall its entire fleet of robotaxis to address an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding alleged unexpected braking.
