All articles tagged with #uber
Uber will acquire Blacklane to expand into luxury and executive travel, leveraging Blacklane’s global chauffeur network in 500+ cities across 60+ countries and integrating with Uber Elite. The deal is expected to close by year-end 2026, pending regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, and aims to accelerate Uber’s premium mobility strategy.
Uber Technologies said it will acquire Blacklane to broaden its high-end chauffeur offerings for executives and wealthy clients, a deal expected to close by the end of 2026 with undisclosed financial terms. Blacklane operates in 500+ cities across 60+ countries, and the purchase is poised to bolster Uber Elite, the company's premium chauffeur option, amid growing competition in luxury ride-hailing.
Uber and Blacklane have agreed for Uber to acquire the Berlin-based premium chauffeur service, expanding Uber’s luxury and executive travel offerings globally. The deal awaits regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of 2026, accelerating the integration of Blacklane’s concierge-style chauffeur network with Uber’s platform and advancing Uber Elite.
Uber has expanded a broad slate of robotaxi partnerships with Zoox, Wayve-Nissan, Rivian and others to keep the market open and competitive by avoiding a single dominant supplier. Positioned as the demand aggregator, Uber aims to attract investment into a diversified ecosystem rather than chase one winner. While this could expand the overall ride-hailing market and give Uber more negotiating leverage, most partners have yet to deploy fully driverless paid services and cost/scale remain the main challenges.
Investigators say surveillance shows Nancy Guthrie in an Uber the day before she disappeared; the clip has been reviewed but yielded no actionable clues, and the Uber driver was interviewed. Authorities are also examining an empty neighborhood house as a potential base for suspects, with the FBI returning to questions in the case. No suspect has been identified, and the reward remains up to $1 million.
Uber will invest $1.25 billion in Rivian through 2031 (with an initial $300 million) to deploy up to 50,000 autonomous Rivian R2 robotaxis, starting with 10,000 in San Francisco and Miami in 2028 and expanding to 25 more cities by 2031; the Rivian fleet will be exclusive to Uber’s app and contingent on hitting autonomy milestones and regulatory approval, as Rivian pursues Level 4 tech (with its own AI chips) that is still largely unproven.
Uber will invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian to deploy up to 50,000 robotaxis through 2031, starting with a $300 million initial investment after signing and regulatory approval. The deal envisions 10,000 autonomous Rivian R2s, with an option for up to 40,000 more from 2030, rolled out across 25 cities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, beginning in 2028 with San Francisco and Miami. Uber’s platform would host these robotaxis exclusively in the first markets; Rivian’s tech stack and vertical integration underpin the plan, which follows other mobility investments and signals a push into the anticipated robotaxi market. Licensing fees for the software are part of the agreement.
Nvidia’s GTC 2026 keynote drew a muted stock reaction for Nvidia itself, but sparked notable moves in related names: Uber and Lyft jumped on expanded robo-taxi deals with Nvidia, Hyundai, Nissan, and Geely rose on partnerships, copper-vs-optics commentary swayed fiber stocks, and memory-chip demand fueled gains for Micron as Vera Rubin-related shipments signal stronger AI hardware demand.
Uber and Nvidia announced a phased global rollout of NVIDIA-driven autonomous vehicles on Uber’s network, starting in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the first half of 2027 and expanding to 28 cities by 2028, powered by the DRIVE Hyperion platform and Alpamayo AI to tackle complex scenarios, with a progression from data-collection to operator-led launches and eventual driverless operations across North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
Uber has rolled out its Women Preferences feature nationwide in the US, allowing riders and drivers to request matches with women to boost comfort and safety; about 20% of US drivers are women, and the rollout follows a pilot despite a California class-action alleging gender discrimination, with Uber seeking to move the case to private arbitration. In eligible cities, teens and their parents can also request women drivers.
Uber is rolling out its nationwide Women Drivers feature, letting women riders and drivers be matched for trips with options to request a female driver, reserve in advance, or enable a female-driver preference (including teen accounts). The expansion follows California class-action lawsuits alleging the policy discriminates against men, with Lyft facing similar claims. The feature began as a pilot in several cities and abroad, as Uber touts safety improvements and arbitration progress.
Uber has rolled out a nationwide feature in the US that lets female drivers and passengers request trips with other women, expanding a pilot designed to boost comfort and safety. The launch comes amid a California class-action lawsuit accusing the move of discriminating against men.
Uber is rolling out its women-only matching option nationwide in the United States, allowing women riders to request women drivers and women drivers to serve only female riders as part of ongoing safety and comfort measures for female users.
Uber previewed its Dubai air taxi offering, using Joby Aviation’s four-seat electric air taxis that can reach about 200 mph and fly up to 100 miles. Bookings will flow through the Uber app alongside Uber Black pickups, with pilots onboard initially and a Dubai launch planned later this year. The broader plan includes US expansion and FAA certification progress in parallel with efforts in the UK and Japan.
Google's Gemini voice assistant can automate tasks in popular mobile apps (starting with Uber and food services like Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Grubhub) by opening apps, running actions in the background, and prompting for missing details before you confirm. The feature, in early preview, uses Model Context Protocol integrations or App Functions for backend automation, or falls back to navigating the app UI. Privacy controls are emphasized, with data not used for advertising and options to delete access. Availability begins on the Galaxy S26 in the US and South Korea from March 11, with a broader rollout to Pixel devices and more apps planned later this year.