Uber Strikes Gold with Lucid x Nuro Global Robotaxi Deal
July 20, 2025
This Week in The Autonomy Economy is presented by Koop, a specialist insurance provider focused on robotics and autonomous vehicles.
This Week in the Autonomy Economy, the robotaxi service area war in Austin heated up, Uber reaffirmed their global ambitions with the announcement of its Lucid x Nuro and Baidu deals, and Bedrock Robotics emerged from stealth with $80 million in funding.
As we said this week on Autonomy Markets, there is never a sleepy moment in the autonomy economy. Deal-making is heating up, robotaxi fleets are scaling globally, and individuals who once left the sector are now clamoring to come in from the cold.
It’s all coming together. And as the industry grows, it paradoxically becomes smaller. A close-knit group of us has been here since the early days. We’ve practically grown up together, some of us now have children, gray hair, and while we’re no longer as young as we once were, we still carry the same energy and drive to see autonomy become an economy that we call the autonomy economy.
The pre-2020 hype has faded. Companies have been sold, shuttered, or merged. Others such as Apple, Ford, and GM have exited the robotaxi sector entirely. Meanwhile, those that stayed the course are now in pole position.
Alphabet never gave up on Waymo. Tesla never gave up on “cracking” full self-driving. And now, both companies are leading in the commercialization of robotaxis.
As Apple, Ford, and GM look in from the outside, they must ask themselves the same question as so many former autonomy insiders: Do we want back in? Why did we shutter operations and leave the sector in the first place?
Autonomy has always been a long-term bet. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. A marathon that costs billions and demands relentless conviction. The companies and individuals that never gave up are emerging stronger, with the scars and lessons earned over decades spent building not just a product, but an entirely new economy.
While crypto is capturing the regulatory spotlight with the signing of the Genius Act by President Trump on July 18th, autonomy’s regulatory moment is on the near horizon.
And when the time comes, we hope to be there when President Trump or a future president signs a national autonomous vehicle framework that includes trucks weighing over 10,001 gross pounds.
We boarded the autonomy bus over 15 years ago, and we’re still on board. There is a bright autonomous future ahead. Here’s to those of us who never got off.
The Future is Bright. The Future is Autonomous. The Future is Never Giving Up.
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What’s Moving the Markets
Uber Strikes Gold with Lucid x Nuro Global Robotaxi Deal
Uber has just taken the biggest step yet in their quest to fragment the global robotaxi market with the announcement of a premium global robotaxi partnership: Lucid x Nuro, alongside a $300 million dollar investment in Lucid and a “significant” investment in Nuro.
On top of the investment, over the next six years, Uber and Uber Designated Fleet Operators will purchase a minimum of 20,000 Gravity Plus vehicles, with 10,000 units contractually guaranteed. These vehicles will be manufactured at both Lucid’s Casa Grande, Arizona plant and the AMP-2 (Advanced Manufacturing Plant 2) facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
While the announcement appears U.S. centric, highlighting an initial deployment in a major American city next year, the broader implications of the deal point to a global strategy. The common denominator: the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns 3.5% of Uber and roughly 58% of Lucid.
Reading between the lines, it is highly likely that the PIF played a key role in brokering this deal with an eye on supporting Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Vision 2030 goals.
It’s plausible that the groundwork for this deal was cemented earlier this year, when Uber signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kingdom’s Transport General Authority (TGA) to establish a framework for strategic cooperation to enable the operation of autonomous vehicles in the Kingdom.
This could be us merely reading the tea leaves and trying to connect the dots, but there appears to be a strong probability that a portion of these vehicles will be deployed in the Kingdom. If we are indeed correct and those vehicles are deployed in the Kingdom, the next question becomes, who owns and manages the fleet of Lucid x Nuro robotaxis?
Could it be SAPTCO (Saudi Public Transport Company)? Could Abdul Latif Jameel Motors, if they enter the fleet management sector? Or could it be NTSC, a Petromin Corporation subsidiary? All three of these entities have the balance sheet and relationships to manage a Lucid x Nuro robotaxi fleet in Saudi Arabia.
Looking beyond Saudi Arabia, it is also plausible that Lucid x Nuro robotaxis will be exported to the UAE, where Uber is actively working to deploy autonomous vehicles.
The timing supports this theory: last month, Lucid began transitioning its AMP-2 plant from an assembly-only facility to a full manufacturing operation capable of producing 150,000 vehicles annually.
Coincidentally or not, non-North American Gravity SUVs will be produced at AMP-2. It’s entirely possible that this plant becomes a hub for global robotaxi exports to the UAE, Europe, Asia and the UK once Lucid supports left-hand traffic driving.
With this deal, Uber has secured a global robotaxi manufacturing partner, eliminating its dependence on Waymo or other third-party developers. Uber now has the production capacity and autonomous driving technology partners it needs to scale across Europe, the UK, the Middle East, and Asia.
Could there be more Lucid x Uber deals on the horizon? Could Wayve be next? Could Lucid be the OEM partner for Uber and Wayve’s commercial UK launch in 2027?
While most coverage of the deal has been focused on the U.S. market, the real story, in our opinion, is that Uber now has global manufacturing capacity to scale robotaxi fleets worldwide. The partnership with Lucid could be the catalyst that accelerates Uber’s international robotaxi expansion.
Our take: Uber is changing as a company and they are going to be a very big player in the future autonomy. Just how big remains to be seen, but when you connect the dots, their ambitions become undeniably clear.
Nuro is currently ranked #2 with a positive outlook on the AUTONOMY LEADERBOARD in the licensing category.
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Piquing Our Interest
Uber Partners with Baidu to Launch Robotaxis Across Asia and the Middle East Uber continues to fragment the robotaxi market with a distinct focus on international expansion. This week, Uber announced a deal with Baidu to launch robotaxis on the Uber network in Asia and the Middle East later this year.
Tesla Expands Robotaxi Service Area Just weeks after launching their Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, Tesla has expanded the service area across the Colorado River.
Waymo Expands Austin Service Area Days after Tesla expanded their Robotaxi service area in Austin, Texas, Waymo followed suit, expanding their service area with Uber to over 90 square miles.
Avride Has Begun Testing Autonomous Vehicles in Austin Avride has begun testing dozens of autonomous vehicles in Austin as they prepare to launch commercial service later this year in Dallas with Uber.
From Cars to Construction Equipment Boris Sofman, Ajay Gummalla, Kevin Peterson, and Tom Eliaz have founded Bedrock Robotics, a startup focused on autonomous construction equipment. In the coming weeks, Co-Founder and CTO Kevin Peterson will be joining us on The Road to Autonomy podcast.
Caterpillar Surpasses One Million Tons Autonomously Hauled at Bull Run Quarry Caterpillar has autonomously hauled over one million tons of crushed stone, sand and gravel at Luck Stone’s Bull Run Quarry in Chantilly, Virginia.
📰 Before these stories were featured here, they were available on X. Follow @RoadToAutonomy today to stay up-to-date on the latest news and developments shaping the autonomy economy.
Social Buzz
100 Million Miles and Counting
With over 100 million fully autonomous miles and counting, Waymo continues to show that autonomy is scalable as the robotaxi sector heats up once again.
Our take: As Waymo continues to scale autonomous miles, the company still has to clearly define its policy and business strategies amid growing competition.
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