This Week in Startups Uber, Lucid & Nuro team up on robotaxis by 2026 | E2173
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Sep 3, 2025 Dave Ferguson, co-founder and president of Nuro, dives into the groundbreaking partnership with Uber and Lucid to roll out fully driverless Gravity SUVs by 2026. He discusses how innovative sensor technology and extensive mapping of 150 cities enhance safety and reduce costs. The conversation highlights the significance of lidar for challenging driving conditions and reflects on lessons learned from Cruise's setbacks. Ferguson also explores the potential for autonomy to make rides cheaper than car ownership, marking a significant shift in transportation.
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Trust Matters As Much As Tech
- Public trust and regulator relationships are as critical as technology for commercial AV scale.
- Dave emphasizes heavy investment in regulator trust early to survive inevitable incidents and scale safely.
Nuro's Pivot From Delivery To Licensing
- Nuro began as a delivery-vehicle company building custom road robots and pivoted when capital costs rose around 2022.
- They expanded from goods delivery into licensing their general-purpose self-driving technology for passenger mobility.
Commodity Hardware Cuts AV Costs
- Nuro's autonomy uses off-the-shelf automotive sensors and Nvidia Thor compute to cut vehicle system costs roughly an order of magnitude below other L4 players.
- Dave says initial low-volume sensor+compute cost is around $10K and will fall with scale, enabling wider OEM integration.