The total financial exposure Uber $UBER has built up in self-driving startup Nuro is approaching half a billion dollars, Reuters reported, shedding light on how deeply the two companies are financially intertwined.
The total reflects multiple tranches of investment, with Reuters citing two unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Uber's initial public disclosure covered participation in a $203 million round that put Nuro's valuation at $6 billion, but that figure tells only part of the story. On top of that, the company quietly made a second, larger investment and struck an agreement to release further capital as Nuro clears specific technical and commercial benchmarks. When added together, those obligations approach the $500 million mark.
A portion of the contingent funding has already been unlocked after Nuro reached its earliest benchmarks on schedule. What remains is gated behind future achievements: operating without a human behind the wheel, an effort slated for later this year; picking up passengers in fully driverless vehicles before year's end; and broadening the service footprint in 2026. Nuro is currently testing with safety drivers and plans to launch commercially in the San Francisco Bay Area later this year.
Uber and Nuro declined to comment, according to Reuters.
The capital infusion gives Nuro the financial breathing room it needs while it attempts to demonstrate that its technology can hold up in real-world commercial conditions. Originally focused on purpose-built delivery robots, the company changed direction in 2024 and now earns revenue by licensing its autonomous driving software to vehicle manufacturers and fleet operators.
Uber has been building a string of autonomous vehicle partnerships as it positions itself as a platform for the robotaxi industry. The company reached a deal with Rivian $RIVN Automotive to deploy up to 50,000 autonomous versions of Rivian's R2 electric vehicle, committing up to $1.25 billion in Rivian through 2031, subject to milestones. Initial commercial deployments from that partnership are planned for San Francisco and Miami in 2028.
Uber has also announced a robotaxi program in Munich in partnership with Israeli AI startup Autobrains Technologies and chipmaker Nvidia $NVDA — its first push into autonomous ride-hailing in Europe. The company's autonomous vehicle partnerships also include Waymo, Baidu, and British startup Wayve.