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Uber has made its autonomous directive clear in recent months following the announcement of several autonomous vehicle partnerships, including a $1.25 billion robotaxi collaboration with Rivian Motors.
The major ride-hailing platform’s latest autonomous team-up is with Israeli AI company Autobrains Technologies. Through a strategic collaboration, the two companies hope to strengthen Uber’s foothold in the European autonomous vehicle market, with plans to launch an autonomous pilot programme in the German city of Munich.
Uber made the announcement at NVIDIA’s GTC conference in Taipei, Taiwan, releasing an official statement that read:
“Subject to regulatory approval, Munich will serve as the first deployment city for the robotaxi programme.”
Uber and Autobrains’ autonomous project will utilise NVIDIA’s DRIVE Hyperion platform, a production-ready autonomous driving system already adopted by several major automakers, including BYD, Geely and Hyundai.
Both companies have cited Munich’s dense road network and favourable regulatory climate as key factors behind the decision. If successful, the venture would establish Munich as the first German city in which consumers can order a robotaxi through the app.
As it stands, Uber has not given any indication of which vehicles these robotaxi capabilities will be developed for, opting instead for an “open approach” whereby the technology can be deployed across a range of different models and brands.
This ‘generalisable’ approach is similar to that adopted by UK technology provider Wayve, which also has a major partnership with Uber and is developing robotaxis in the English capital. Wayve’s end-to-end AI system can be fitted to a variety of vehicle models, allowing the company to partner with numerous automotive manufacturers, including Nissan and Mercedes-Benz.
Uber sold its self-driving unit, ATG, to U.S. autonomous vehicle company Aurora Innovations in 2020. Since then, it has relied on partnerships to strengthen its position in the autonomous mobility sector.
This latest collaboration to deliver a robotaxi service in Munich is the newest in a series of autonomous partnerships with self-driving technology companies and automotive manafacturers, including Wayve, Lucid Motors, Rivian and Momenta.
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