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Uber Picks San Francisco for 2026 Launch of LucidNuro Robotaxis

The move sets up a direct challenge to Waymo in its home market with state permits still pending.

Overview

  • On-road development has begun, with more than 100 Lucid Gravity SUVs to form an engineering test fleet in the Bay Area in the coming months as Nuro leads safety validation.
  • Uber will own and operate the service and has committed to at least 20,000 Lucid-based robotaxis over six years following a $300 million investment in Lucid.
  • Before carrying paying passengers, the program must obtain California DMV driverless authorization and CPUC approval for ride-hailing operations.
  • Separately, Uber’s Nvidia partnership targets roughly 100,000 autonomous vehicles beginning in 2027, including at least 5,000 Stellantis-built, Nvidia-powered robotaxis slated to start production in 2028 with Foxconn supporting integration.
  • The Bay Area debut intensifies competition with Waymo as other players expand locally, and Lucid also plans to integrate Nvidia’s DRIVE AGX Thor into future midsize EVs to enable Level 4 capability.