Cruise and Uber: Autonomous vehicles at your fingertips next year

Cruise and Uber have announced that they will offer autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform starting next year. The move marks a pivotal moment for the General Motors-backed robotaxi company Cruise, which is struggling to regain confidence after past problems on US roads. The partnership will allow Uber riders to choose to ride in a Cruise autonomous vehicle, which could change the way we get around cities.

Cruise returns to the scene

$GM is in a comeback period after a serious accident that took place in San Francisco last year. This incident led to the suspension of their autonomous vehicles and forced the company to rethink their technology and safety standards. Now Cruise is trying to regain the trust of both state and federal officials and the public. Recently, the company agreed to recall nearly 1,200 robotaxis due to hard braking issues, which led to an investigation by the U.S. auto safety regulator.

Collaborating with Uber as a strategic move

Uber $UBER, which is focusing on core areas of its business including ride-sharing and food delivery after selling its own autonomous vehicle division in 2020, now sees great potential in autonomous vehicles. Uber's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, recently highlighted that Uber is uniquely positioned in the market to offer AV players like Cruise a platform for large-scale deployment of their technology.

This collaboration comes at a time when Tesla, led by Elon Musk, is planning to unveil its delayed plans for a robotaxi. The commercialization of autonomous vehicles has proven to be far more complex and costly than originally anticipated. The technology requires huge investments and faces strict regulatory oversight and federal investigations.

The future of autonomous vehicles at Uber

As Uber expands its partnerships with various tech companies, such as Alphabet's Waymo and startup Waabi, the number of rides completed by autonomous vehicles on their platform is growing. The number of these rides has increased sixfold compared to last year, indicating a growing interest in the technology among riders.

With the addition of Cruise to the Uber platform, autonomous vehicles are expected to become an even more common part of urban mobility, which could significantly change the future of transportation and reduce reliance on traditional drivers. The results of this partnership will certainly be watched with great interest, both by experts and the public.

Disclaimer: You will find a lot of inspiration on Bulios, but stock selection and portfolio construction is up to you, so always do a thorough analysis of your own.

Source..