Uber is not done snatching up autonomous vehicle partnerships.
The ride-hail and delivery giant on Thursday announced a multi-year deal with Yandex spinout Avride to bring the company’s sidewalk delivery robots and autonomous vehicles to both Uber Eats and Uber.
It’s the latest in a series of deals from Uber over the last two months as the company aims to position itself as the ideal partner for AV companies looking to commercialize.
Avride is one of four projects under parent company Nebius Group, which is the new name for Yandex NV, the Netherlands-based company that sold off its Russian business earlier this year after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
In the next few weeks, Uber Eats customers in downtown Austin will be able to have their food delivered via one of Avride’s robots, with Dallas and Jersey City launching later in 2024.
The companies say they hope to feature Avride’s autonomous cars on the Uber platform in Dallas by late next year.
Avride is based in Austin, where it’s already making commercial deliveries in Mueller, a 700-acre planned community, for local restaurants like Rebel Cheese, Colleen’s Kitchen, and Xian Sushi & Noodle. The startup’s fleet of “dozens” of bots operate everyday from 8am to 10pm, according to the company. Avride is also doing commercial deliveries with its bots in Seoul, South Korea.
Avride’s autonomous car development is slightly farther behind. The company says it is testing a fleet of autonomous Hyundai Ioniq 5s on public roads with a safety driver in the front seat in both Austin and Seoul.
Over the past several weeks, Uber has locked in deals with Chinese AV startup WeRide to bring its robotaxis onto the Uber app in Abu Dhabi, as well as the U.K.’s Wayve and GM’s Cruise. The company has also doubled down on an ongoing partnership with Waymo to feature the Alphabet-owned company’s robotaxis on the Uber app in Austin and Atlanta in early 2025.
The recent partnerships – which add onto existing tie-ups with autonomous delivery companies Serve Robotics, Cartken, and Nuro, among others – come after CEO Dara Khosrowshahi remarked during Uber’s second-quarter earnings call in August that the company has the right utilization, consumer experience, and go-to-market expertise to drive the greatest value for AV partners.
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