The U.K. Financial Times (FT) reported on the 19th (local time) that global ride-hailing platform Uber will invest up to $1.25 billion (about 1.9 trillion won) in U.S. electric-vehicle maker Rivian and agreed to purchase up to 50,000 Autonomous Driving vehicles.
In materials released that day, Uber said it will invest an initial $300 million (about 450 billion won) and, if Rivian meets its Autonomous Driving technology targets, will gradually expand its equity investment to as much as $1.25 billion by 2031.
The deal includes an initial introduction of 10,000 Robotaxis (Autonomous Driving taxis) based on Rivian's new R2 sport-utility vehicle (SUV). Uber and its vehicle partners are given an option to purchase an additional 40,000 units starting in 2030.
The two companies plan to launch Autonomous Driving services in San Francisco and Miami in the United States in 2028 and expand the services to 25 cities in the United States, Canada, and Europe by the end of 2031.
The investment is part of Uber's strategy to expand Robotaxis. After Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi sold the Autonomous Driving (AV) research unit in 2020, Uber shifted to a strategy of building an Autonomous Driving ecosystem through partnerships with external firms.
Previously, Uber collaborated with Waymo, the Autonomous Driving institutional sector of Alphabet, Google's parent company, and with Chinese corporations such as Baidu engaged in Autonomous Driving, and last week it also formed a partnership with Amazon's Autonomous Driving unit "Zoox."
However, concerns have emerged that its position could be shaken as Waymo, Zoox, and others build their own ride-hailing apps and emerge as competitors. In response, Uber last month launched the "Uber Autonomous Driving Solutions" division to comprehensively support Autonomous Driving partners.