Uber (UBER.US) is collaborating with Avride, an autonomous vehicle subsidiary of Dutch cloud infrastructure company Nebius (NBIS.US), to launch a self-driving ride-hailing service in Dallas. This initiative is part of their previously announced partnership and marks another U.S. city where the ride-hailing giant offers autonomous mobility services.
In a statement, Uber announced that starting Wednesday, users requesting UberX, Uber Comfort, or Comfort Electric rides may be assigned a Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxi provided by Avride at no additional cost. Initially, each vehicle will have a professional safety operator monitoring the ride from the driver’s seat, with plans to transition to fully driverless operations as the service expands.
Uber is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to prepare for a future where its ride-hailing and delivery platforms integrate both human-driven and autonomous vehicles. The company has secured over a dozen similar technology partnerships in the past year and expects to deploy self-driving vehicles in at least 10 cities by the end of 2026.
In October, reports indicated that Uber and Nebius planned to jointly invest up to $375 million to develop Avride. A spokesperson for Avride stated that the new funding—comprising strategic investments and commercial commitments—will accelerate the expansion of its autonomous fleet, which is expected to reach 500 vehicles. Additional investments may follow if Avride achieves agreed-upon milestones, potentially bringing the total investment to $375 million. The funds will also support Avride’s product development and expansion into new markets.
Dallas becomes the fourth U.S. city where Uber offers autonomous taxi services through its ride-hailing platform. The company already partners with Alphabet’s (GOOGL.US) Waymo to provide fully driverless services in Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. Internationally, Uber collaborates with WeRide (WRD.US) in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for autonomous ride-hailing.
Initially, a small fleet of Avride autonomous taxis will operate in Dallas, with plans to scale to hundreds over the coming years. Currently, Uber has around 200 Waymo vehicles in Austin and 100 in Atlanta.
Other announced or pilot projects set for 2026 include partnerships with Volkswagen Group in Los Angeles, May Mobility in Arlington (Texas), WeRide in Dubai, and Wayve in London.
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