Uber has committed over $10 billion to buying autonomous vehicles and taking equity stakes in companies developing the technology, according to the Financial Times. This includes $2.5 billion in direct investments and a planned spend of $7.5 billion on purchasing robotaxis over the next few years.
The company's investment strategy marks a shift back towards an asset-heavy approach, which Uber abandoned in 2020 when it sold its autonomous vehicle unit to Aurora and other assets to various companies. However, Uber retained equity stakes in these businesses and is now focusing on owning or leasing physical assets.
Uber has invested in several companies working on autonomous technology, including WeRide, Lucid, Nuro, Rivian, and Wayve. Its new approach could potentially get the company back to its original goal of developing autonomous transportation services.
