Uber UBER -0.05%↓ has announced a $300 million investment in Lucid LCID -1.65%↓to deploy at least 20,000 autonomous Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with Nuro’s Level 4 self-driving technology across dozens of U.S. cities over the next six years, with initial launch expected in 2026. Under the agreement, Uber will invest in Lucid, while Nuro will develop the self-driving technology that will result in its achieving a “multi-hundred-million-dollar investment” with the rideshare company.
The announcement builds on Uber’s expanding network of robotaxi alliances—including its recent partnership with China’s Baidu to launch Apollo Go vehicles in Asia and the Middle East.
However, the collaboration with Baidu has raised new privacy and security concerns among U.S. and European regulators, who warn that rider data and location information transmitted via Chinese-controlled autonomous platforms could be exposed to surveillance. While Uber and Baidu insist deployments will comply with local data protection regulations, critics emphasize that encrypted data handling and cross-border flow controls remain crucial to preventing unauthorized access.
Analysts say the multi-partnership model gives Uber a competitive edge by leveraging mature autonomous systems without building its own, but it also draws scrutiny as Western authorities reassess national security implications of autonomous platforms operated by foreign firms. The company says its robotaxi expansion—backed by deep investments in Lucid and Nuro, plus local data compliance—will proceed with “full transparency” to address evolving legal and cybersecurity frameworks.
The Uber-Baidu partnership will leverage Baidu’s extensive robotaxi fleet, which has completed more than 11 million rides in 15 Chinese cities. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the agreement “will help us bring safe, reliable autonomous mobility to more people in more places,” while Baidu co-founder and CEO Robin Li called the collaboration “an important step forward in the global adoption of autonomous driving.”
