Uber takes on Waymo’s home turf with new Lucid–Nuro Robotaxi unveiled at CES | WATCH

Las Vegas: Uber on Monday unveiled a custom robotaxi it is adding to its global ride-share platform, starting on the San Francisco home turf it shares with rival Waymo, owned by Google.

The Lucid Gravity robotaxi went on display at an Nvidia exhibit at the Fontainebleau resort in Las Vegas, at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (2026). The taxi boasts room for six passengers and an Uber-designed in-cabin ride experience.

Road testing of the robotaxis began last month, with humans in the drivers seat as a precaution.

The launch is slated for later this year, provided they get clearance from regulators in California.

The vehicles are taking shape through a collaboration with autonomous driving technology firm Nuro and electric vehicle maker Lucid using a platform powered by AI-chip colossus Nvidia.

Uber and Nvidia late last year announced an alliance to deploy 100,000 robotaxis starting in 2027.

"Together with Uber, we're creating a framework for the entire industry to deploy autonomous fleets at scale, powered by Nvidia AI infrastructure," Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said at the time. "What was once science fiction is fast becoming an everyday reality."

From climate controls to pull-over commands

The all-electric Gravity robotaxis will have interactive screens that let riders control features like seat heaters, climate controls and music, and allow passengers to contact support teams or command vehicles to pull over, according to Uber.

"Uber is proud to partner with Lucid and Nuro to bring a state-of-the-art robotaxi to market later this year," said Sarfraz Maredia, Uber's global head of autonomous mobility.

Uber currently lets users in a few US cities like Dallas hail robotaxis operated by Google-owned Waymo.

The company had previously launched similar services in Abu Dhabi in November last year.

Waymo robotaxis have grown in popularity in San Francisco and have even become a tourist attraction.

Waymo's fleet in the area is estimated at more than 800 vehicles, and its service will be available in a total of 10 US cities in the coming months, as well as London.

Amazon-owned Zoox has also started offering driverless ride service in parts of San Francisco as part of a limited "explorers" program for the service.

Tesla sales fall; Waymo poses tough competition

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s Tesla was overtaken by China’s BYD as the world’s largest EV manufacturer on Friday after its global deliveries fell for a second consecutive year.

Tesla had introduced its long-awaited robotaxi service in Austin in June last year, initially deploying vehicles with safety monitors on board before moving to driverless testing. The company aims to expand the service to several cities later this year.

To achieve that goal, Tesla faces stiff competition from Waymo, which has been running autonomous taxi services for years and already serves a much larger customer base.

(With AFP and AP inputs)