Ride-hailing giant Uber on Thursday announced to partner US-based autonomous vehicle startup Avride to use its delivery robots and autonomous vehicles in the US.
According to the company, the multi-year partnership will launch first with sidewalk robots on Uber Eats in Austin, Texas, in the coming weeks, before expanding to Dallas and Jersey City, New Jersey, later this year.
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The mobility partnership is expected to launch for riders in Dallas later next year. After launch, when a consumer requests a qualifying delivery or ride on the Uber Eats or Uber apps, they may be presented with the option to have that trip fulfilled by an Avride delivery robot or autonomous vehicle.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber said that autonomous mobility and delivery hold a ton of promise for consumers and communities.
“We’re excited to partner with Avride to bring their technology to more people in more places, as they continue to scale,” he added.
Avride’s delivery robots are already making commercial deliveries in the US and South Korea, while its autonomous cars are currently being tested on public roads.
According to Dmitry Polishchuk, CEO of Avride, they are excited to partner with Uber as “we scale our operations and work together to further improve the delivery experience for both consumers and merchants”.
“We plan to expand the total fleet of Avride robots operating within Uber Eats to hundreds in 2025, followed by the launch of our robotaxi service,” said Polishchuk.
Avride develops and operate both autonomous cars and delivery robots that utilise shared technologies. Avride is the new name for Yandex NV, the Netherlands-based company that sold off its Russian business earlier this year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
