Uber has partnered with three Chinese autonomous vehicle companies to expand its robo taxi service in Europe and the Middle East. The company announced its latest partnership with the Guangzhou-based company Pony AI on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, Uber announced its strategic partnership with the two other China-based autonomous vehicle companies, Momenta and WeRide. The company is integrating the cars from Chinese companies on its App.
Uber’s plans for driverless cabs-
Since 2016, Uber has been testing its autonomous cab services. The company launched its first robotaxi services in late 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. Later in December, Uber launched its driverless car services in Abu Dhabi. This was the company’s first international robotaxi launch.
In the US, Uber has planned to launch robotaxis in Austin, Atlanta, and Arlington in 2025.
The UAE and Europe are significant markets for the company’s driverless cabs. It has announced that it will launch its robotaxis in 15 cities in the Middle East and Europe in the next 5 years.
Uber’s expanding partnerships with robocar companies–
In the US, Uber has partnered with several autonomous vehicle companies to add robotaxis to its fleet. Waymo is the biggest fleet partner of Uber in the US. The two companies came to a resolution after bitter competition and lawsuits. In the partnership, Uber handles the maintenance and operation side of the cab-hailing business while Waymo is responsible for autonomous tech and customer assistance.
Other than Waymo and the three Chinese companies, Uber has also partnered with several other autonomous vehicle companies like Aurora Innovation, Serve Robotics, Waabi, and Kartken.
The competition with Tesla-
In January, Elon Musk announced that Tesla would launch driverless cab services in Austin, Texas, in the coming June. He said that the company will use its own fleet to operate its cab services. This is the caution bell for Uber as Tesla has both the large capital and technological capabilities to give a stiff competition to Uber in the robotaxi segment. Tesla’s independence in the autonomous vehicle technology and the fleet gives it an advantage over Uber, which is dependent on the partner companies for technology and fleet.