Cruise and Uber announced a partnership that will see Cruise’s autonomous vehicles available on Uber’s platform starting next year. This move comes as Cruise aims to make a comeback after facing a major accident in San Francisco last year that forced the company to halt operations. Uber has been offering driverless cars in Phoenix through a partnership with Waymo, which currently operates a fleet of 700 uncrewed robotaxis.
The partnership between Cruise and Uber will allow Uber riders to select a trip using a Cruise autonomous vehicle. This alliance comes at a time when Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk is planning to unveil delayed plans for a robotaxi product in October. Commercializing autonomous vehicles has proven to be more challenging and time-consuming than initially anticipated, due to complex technology, significant investments, strict regulatory scrutiny, and federal investigations.
Cruise recently agreed to recall around 1,200 robotaxis due to hard braking issues, which led to the closure of a probe by the U.S. auto safety regulator. Meanwhile, Uber sold its self-driving division in 2020 in an effort to reduce cash burn and focus on its core businesses of ride hailing and food delivery. The companies believe that Uber is well-positioned to offer value for autonomous vehicle players aiming to deploy their technology at scale.
Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, highlighted the company’s success with self-driving vehicle trips on its platform, which increased six-fold in the June quarter compared to the previous year. This growth was supported by partnerships with companies like Waymo and startup Waabi for freight services. The announcement of Cruise’s autonomous vehicles on Uber’s platform signals a step forward in the adoption of self-driving technology by both companies and the wider transportation industry.
The partnership with Cruise also coincides with Uber’s strategic shift towards autonomous vehicle technology and its potential to offer innovative solutions in the transportation sector. Despite challenges and setbacks faced by autonomous vehicle companies, the collaboration between Cruise and Uber represents a significant development in the evolution of the autonomous driving ecosystem. With the increasing demand for electric vehicles and the emergence of new technologies, the future of self-driving cars on ride-sharing platforms like Uber is becoming increasingly tangible.
