Inside Uber’s Autonomous Vehicle Empire: Every Company Powering Its Global Strategy
Tracing Uber's journey from exiting self-driving development in 2020 to building a global network through investments and partnerships with over 30 AV companies.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Uber has partnered with and invested in over 30 autonomous vehicle companies globally over the past two years.
- The company previously developed its own tech until a fatal 2018 crash and legal battles halted the program.
- Uber now utilizes an ecosystem model, integrating third-party robotaxis and delivery bots into its app.
Uber is aggressively building an autonomous vehicle empire, having partnered with and in some cases directly invested in more than 30 autonomous vehicle companies over the past two years with a truly global approach.
Looking back at its history, Uber once developed its own autonomous technology. Led by Travis Kalanick, the company formed Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) in 2014, recruiting researchers from Carnegie Mellon University. Two years later, Uber acquired self-driving truck firm Otto and began public street testing in California, Pittsburgh, and Arizona.
That progress unraveled following Waymo’s trade secrets lawsuit, Kalanick’s 2017 resignation, and a fatal 2018 crash in Tempe, Arizona, involving a self-driving Volvo XC90 that struck a pedestrian while a safety operator was distracted. Uber suspended testing and reorganized its program.
When Dara Khosrowshahi took over as CEO, Uber executed a major reset in 2020 by walking away from costly moonshots like in-house autonomous vehicle development to focus on core ride-hailing and delivery. However, by retaining equity stakes in entities like Aurora and Joby Aviation, Uber preserved its footing in the autonomous sector, paving the way for its current partner-driven model without bearing the heavy R&D burden.
In 2020, Uber sold Uber ATG to Aurora, Jump to Lime, and Elevate to Joby Aviation while retaining equity stakes. According to SEC filings from this past April, Uber owns 325.97 million Aurora Class A shares through Neben Holdings, representing a 19.7% equity stake and 6.9% voting power.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Uber Freight and Aurora announced an expanded multi-year collaboration in June 2024, and by May 2025, Aurora’s self-driving trucks were completing roundtrip hauls between Dallas and Houston via the Uber Freight platform. Furthermore, in June 2026, the companies announced plans for a Munich robotaxi program utilizing Autobrains' agentic AI running on Nvidia Drive Hyperion.
Avomo, formerly known as Moove Cars, serves as an autonomous fleet operator partner in which Uber took a 30% stake in 2021. Avomo handles maintenance, cleaning, charging, and depot operations for the Waymo-Uber partnership in Austin and manages fleet operations for Uber's robotaxi agreement with WeRide in Madrid.
Source: TechCrunch
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