Tesla isn’t the only OEM getting into the robotaxi game — Rivian is as well.
“Autonomous” and “robotaxis” are two words you’ve almost certainly heard floating around the news sphere in recent years and months, and now things are kicking up a notch. After Tesla started serial production of its steering wheel-less Cybercab, Uber and Rivian announced a partnership worth up to $1.25 billion for R2-based robotaxis to hit the rideshare giant’s fleet through 2031.
Initially, the companies’ agreement will see Uber invest $300 million to deploy 10,000 fully autonomous Rivian R2 robotaxis across its fleet in 2028. The rollout will begin in San Francisco and Miami, but may eventually expand out to cover 25 cities globally by 2031. If all goes well, Uber will invest a further $1.25 billion through 2031 to secure an additional 40,000 R2s.
The announcement comes as Rivian is readying the consumer launch of its R2 SUV. It’s also pushing full steam ahead with its autonomous driving efforts, with its Autonomy+ system (including ‘Universal Hands-Free’ Level 2 driver assistance) being a hallmark of this latest model. The latest system will, according to Rivian during its December 2025 Autonomy and AI Day, support 3.5 million miles of roads in the U.S. and Canada. From there, it plans to integrate lidar into the R2 later this year and even bring its own, in-house AI chip (the RAP1 processor) to bear as it pushes farther toward Level 4 autonomous operation.
The deal is still subject to regulatory approval, and the full $1.25 billion investment hinges upon hitting “certain autonomous milestones by specific dates”. Nonetheless, as Rivian projects an adjusted loss of $1.8 to $2.1 billion for 2026 as it aims to ramp up production and its autonomous and AI efforts, the deal will provide much-needed capital to make it all happen.
Rivian stock jumped more than 10% after this morning’s announcement, though it settled back down to about a 3% gain in afternoon trading.
