GoKawiilRivian said on Thursday that it is partnering with Uber to build thousands of robotaxis based on its upcoming R2 SUV. The deal could be worth up to $1.25 billion for the EV maker.
Uber is kicking off the partnership with an initial $300 million investment in Rivian, and is “expected to purchase 10,000 fully autonomous R2 robotaxis” ahead of a planned rollout in San Francisco and Miami in 2028.
Uber will have the option to buy up to 40,000 more autonomous R2 SUVs from Rivian starting in 2030. The two companies said they plan to launch the robotaxis in “25 cities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe by the end of 2031.” The fleet will be exclusively available on Uber’s network, according to the companies.
While the agreement is potentially lucrative for Rivian, it’s brimming with risk and challenges.
Rivian hasn’t started producing the R2 SUV yet; it has said manufacturing is expected to begin by June. Nor has it tested and deployed a self-driving system designed for robotaxis. To raise the hurdle even higher, the robotaxi is supposed to be built in Rivian’s Georgia factory, which is still under construction.
Those obstacles don’t appear to have softened Rivian’s resolve or the determination of its founder and CEO, RJ Scaringe, who has made automated driving technology a top priority for the company. He even hinted during the company’s inaugural “Autonomy & AI Day” in December that this work enables the startup to “pursue opportunities in the ride-share space.”
Indeed, Scaringe was behind the company’s 2021 decision to ditch its previous rules-based framework for driver assistance in favor of an AI-first strategy that uses large language models to train the system how to perceive and navigate the world. This automated driving system is designed to learn from fleet data and become increasingly autonomous.
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