Uber, Once the 'King of Ride-Hailing' That Exited Indonesia, Now Unleashes a 'Driver Apocalypse' with Robotaxis

Uber plans to launch a premium robotaxi service in Houston, United States, by mid-2027. The city will become the second market in Uber’s partnership with electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid and autonomous vehicle technology company Nuro. This announcement follows various preparations being undertaken by the three companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. They are targeting the robotaxi service to begin operating in San Francisco by the end of this year. Uber also stated that the robotaxi programme will subsequently be expanded to dozens of cities over the next few years. Uber was the first technology company to offer app-based transport services, which are now provided by Grab and Gojek in Indonesia. The American start-up once operated in Indonesia but later exited after selling its Southeast Asian business, including its Indonesian operations, to Grab. For now, Uber’s focus is on San Francisco and Houston. In these two cities, Uber will face direct competition from its rival, Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Alphabet, which currently operates commercial robotaxi services in both regions. In recent months, Nuro has been testing the Lucid Gravity SUV equipped with its proprietary autonomous driving system in San Francisco. The company has also recorded several advances, including offering Uber employees the opportunity to book a Lucid robotaxi. However, the vehicles are not yet fully operational without a driver. This is the case even though Nuro obtained a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles last month allowing the company to remove safety drivers from its test vehicles. Meanwhile, a combined fleet of 100 autonomous vehicles from Uber and Nuro is also undergoing testing on Houston’s public roads with safety drivers still behind the wheel. In addition to public road testing, Nuro is also utilising closed tracks and simulations to validate its self-driving system before the robotaxi is opened to the general public. The number of test fleet vehicles is expected to increase in the coming weeks as Lucid begins producing the first commercial version of the robotaxi at its factory in Arizona. The Lucid Gravity robotaxi, introduced last January, is equipped with high-resolution cameras, solid-state lidar sensors, and radar. These devices enable the autonomous system to recognise the surrounding environment more accurately and operate the vehicle independently. In this partnership, Uber will be the owner and operator of the robotaxi fleet. The company is also focused on developing the passenger experience inside the cabin, including how users interact with the vehicle during the journey. As part of the preparations for the Houston launch, Uber is also expanding its physical infrastructure in the city. The company currently has a 50,000-square-foot depot and dedicated charging facilities that will serve as the operational hub for the robotaxis. This robotaxi collaboration also provides a boost for Nuro. The autonomous vehicle start-up underwent a major strategic shift in 2024, halting the development of its own delivery robots and pivoting to licensing its autonomous driving technology to vehicle manufacturers and other partners. On the other hand, this collaboration also aids Lucid, which has faced challenges in boosting its electric vehicle sales volume. This issue is a common challenge for many electric vehicle start-ups still competing with Tesla’s market dominance. Uber has made direct investments in both partners. The company is known to have injected approximately US$500 million into Nuro and committed to investing US$500 million into Lucid. Additionally, the ride-hailing giant has also agreed to purchase at least 35,000 Lucid vehicles prepared for operation as robotaxis.