Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, has announced a multi-year partnership with ride-hailing giant Uber. The partnership aims to bring Cruise’s robotaxis to the Uber platform by 2025. While an exact timeline has not been provided, Cruise has stated that this partnership will follow the re-launch of its own driverless service.
This announcement comes as Cruise prepares to reintroduce its robotaxis to public roads after a safety incident in October 2023, where a pedestrian was struck by a human-driven vehicle before being hit by the robotaxi. The partnership with Uber aligns with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s recent comments positioning the company as an ideal partner for autonomous vehicle companies looking to commercialize their technology. Uber has already partnered with Waymo on the ride-hail side of its operations, with Waymo vehicles available on the Uber app in Phoenix since October 2023.
Before the safety incident, Cruise had been expanding rapidly into new territories, offering autonomous rides in San Francisco, Austin, Houston, and Phoenix, and launching driverless testing in Miami. However, following the incident, Cruise lost its permits to operate autonomously in California and grounded its U.S. fleet. Since then, Cruise has been manually testing its robotaxis in Phoenix and has expanded testing to Dallas and Houston.
As Cruise works towards a re-launch, the company is actively cooperating with regulators. Cruise recently announced a recall of its fleet of 1,194 autonomous vehicles to resolve a federal safety probe into an issue with unexpected braking. In addition, Cruise agreed to pay a fine of $112,500 to California regulators for mishandling communications related to the incident in 2023. This settlement clears the way for Cruise to restart operations in the state.
Uber’s partnership with Cruise aligns with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s previous statements on the subject. Khosrowshahi noted that Uber is uniquely positioned to offer value for autonomous vehicle companies looking to deploy their technology at scale. He highlighted the complexity involved in operating a ride-hail network and emphasized Uber’s ability to provide significant demand for AVs without the need for AV companies to invest capital in acquiring customers or building marketplace technology.
In addition to the partnership with Cruise, Uber has active partnerships with autonomous vehicle startup Nuro and sidewalk delivery robot companies Serve Robotics and Cartken. The company is also partnered with autonomous trucking companies Waabi and Aurora Innovation. Uber recently signed a deal with Chinese EV startup BYD to bring 100,000 new EVs onto the platform in markets outside the U.S. The two companies will also collaborate on future autonomous-capable vehicles from BYD to be deployed on the Uber platform. BYD has committed to a $14 billion investment in AV technology.
Overall, this partnership between Cruise and Uber highlights the increasing collaboration between autonomous vehicle companies and ride-hailing platforms. It allows both companies to leverage their respective strengths and accelerate the deployment of self-driving technology at scale. With Uber’s extensive reach and demand, combined with Cruise’s expertise in self-driving technology, this partnership has the potential to reshape the future of transportation.