Uber unveils custom robotaxi, targets launch this year

Uber has unveiled a custom robotaxi built in partnership with autonomous driving firm Nuro and electric vehicle maker Lucid, with plans to launch the service later this year in San Francisco. The Lucid Gravity robotaxi—capable of carrying six passengers—features interactive screens for climate controls, seat heaters, music, and a button to contact support or pull over. Testing began last month with safety drivers present, pending regulatory approval in California. This follows Uber's late-2024 partnership with Nvidia to deploy 100,000 robotaxis starting in 2027. Uber already offers Waymo robotaxis in some US cities; Waymo's San Francisco fleet exceeds 800 vehicles and will expand to 10 US cities plus London soon. Amazon's Zoox also runs limited driverless service in parts of San Francisco. With multiple players scaling up, will this push Nigerian cities to accelerate their own autonomous transport plans, or will infrastructure gaps keep us waiting for this future?

SOURCE: https://www.channelstv.com/2026/01/06/uber-shows-off-robotaxi-heading-for-san-francisco/