Uber partners with autonomous vehicle firm

SAN FRANCISCO & AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) and Avride today announced a multiyear strategic partnership to bring Avride’s delivery robots and autonomous vehicles to Uber and Uber Eats.

The delivery partnership will launch first with sidewalk robots on Uber Eats in Austin in the coming weeks, before expanding to Dallas and Jersey City, New Jersey, later this year. The mobility partnership is expected to launch for riders in Dallas later next year.

After launch, when a consumer requests a qualifying delivery or ride on the Uber Eats or Uber apps, they may be presented with the option to have that trip fulfilled by an Avride delivery robot or autonomous vehicle.

Avride has a unique advantage from developing and operating both autonomous cars and delivery robots that leverage mutually enhancing technologies. The company’s delivery robots are already making commercial deliveries in the U.S. and South Korea, while its autonomous cars are currently being tested on public roads.

Dmitry Polishchuk, CEO of Avride said: “We are excited to partner with Uber as we scale our operations and work together to further improve the delivery experience for both consumers and merchants. We plan to expand the total fleet of Avride robots operating within Uber Eats to hundreds in 2025, followed by the launch of our robotaxi service.”

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber said: “Autonomous mobility and delivery hold a ton of promise for consumers and communities. We’re excited to partner with Avride to bring their technology to more people in more places, as they continue to scale.”

About Uber

Uber’s mission is to create opportunity through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 52 billion trips later, we’re building products to get people closer to where they want to be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities.

About Avride

Avride is a U.S.-based autonomous vehicle startup headquartered in Austin, TX, with additional R&D hubs around the world. We develop and operate both autonomous cars and delivery robots that utilize shared technologies. Since 2017 we’ve been building our expertise in autonomous technologies to create solutions that address current needs and anticipate future demands.

Image sources are either licensed or customer-provided.