Source: Financial Times
Uber is shifting from pure platform operator to hardware investor and buyer, committing $7.5B to vehicle purchases and $2.5B to equity stakes in robotaxi manufacturers. The move signals that autonomous fleets will replace human drivers within its core business. This is a structural change in how ride-hailing companies compete. Rather than waiting for robotaxi technology to mature at arm's length, Uber is directly funding and owning pieces of the supply chain, locking in pricing and technical alignment while signaling to regulators and the market that driverless is operational, not speculative. The equity stakes matter most: Uber becomes a stakeholder in manufacturers' success, tying the company's valuation directly to whether autonomous vehicles work at scale.