Uber Partners with Avride for Autonomous Food Deliveries and Robotaxi Services

(Reuters) – Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) announced a partnership on Thursday with autonomous technology startup Avride for food deliveries and robotaxi services. This collaboration is part of Uber’s strategy to rapidly expand its network of self-driving technology partners.

Recent Developments

In recent weeks, Uber has strengthened its collaboration with Waymo, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s robotaxi unit, and established new alliances with General Motors (NYSE:GM)’s Cruise and Chinese company WeRide.

Uber Eats and Avride Collaboration

Uber Eats will start utilizing sidewalk robots from Avride for deliveries in Austin in the coming weeks, with plans to expand to Dallas and Jersey City later this year. The food delivery service also has a similar partnership with Serve Robotics in Los Angeles.

Future Plans

Avride and Uber are also planning to introduce robotaxi rides in Dallas next year. Customers ordering through Uber Eats or the ride-hailing app may have the option to fulfill their order using an Avride delivery robot or an autonomous vehicle.

About Avride

Founded in 2017, Avride is based in Austin, Texas, and has successfully completed 200,000 deliveries across five countries. It was previously the self-driving division of Yandex (NASDAQ:NBIS) before separating from the Russian firm earlier this year after corporate restructuring.

Dmitry Polishchuk, CEO of Avride, stated, “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.”