Uber

This week in technology, major partnerships are reshaping autonomous transport, NVIDIA is pushing the boundaries of physical AI, and new platforms are emerging for custom enterprise AI. We also cover key developments in Kubernetes optimization, quantum computing milestones, and a significant acquisition in the open-source community. Here’s what you need to know. Uber and Rivian Partner for 50,000-Vehicle Autonomous Robotaxi Fleet In a landmark partnership set to reshape urban mobility, Uber and Rivian have announced a collaboration to launch a massive fleet of up to 50,000 fully autonomous R2 robotaxis. This initiative aims to accelerate the autonomous vehicle roadmaps for both companies, starting with an initial deployment of 10,000 vehicles. The first robotaxis are scheduled to launch in San Francisco and Miami in 2028, with an ambitious expansion plan targeting 25 cities by 2031. To support this, Uber will invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian through 2031, contingent on achieving specific performance milestones. The Rivian R2 robotaxis will be available exclusively on the Uber platform. ...

Nissan, Uber, and Wayve to Launch AI-Powered Robotaxi Service in Tokyo Nissan Motor Co., Uber Technologies Inc., and Wayve Technologies Ltd. have entered into a partnership to develop and launch a robotaxi service in Tokyo. The collaboration will utilize Nissan’s LEAF electric vehicles equipped with Wayve’s AI-powered autonomous driving system, which will be accessible to passengers through the Uber ride-hailing app. A pilot program is scheduled to begin in Tokyo by late 2026, initially with human safety operators present in the vehicles. This initiative marks Uber’s first venture into autonomous vehicle services in Japan and is part of a broader plan to introduce robotaxis in over ten major cities globally, including London. The partnership aims to address challenges such as driver shortages and improve the efficiency of urban transportation. ...

AWS re:Invent 2025: Autonomous AI Agents, Nova 2 Models, and Trainium 3 Processors At its re:Invent 2025 conference, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a suite of new generative AI capabilities, including the introduction of ‘frontier agents’ designed to handle complex, multi-day projects without constant human intervention. These autonomous agents include: Kiro: A virtual developer for Amazon’s coding platform. AWS Security Agent: An agent for testing application vulnerabilities. AWS DevOps Agent: An agent designed to respond to system outages. To support these advancements, AWS launched Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, a platform for building and deploying AI agents at scale, and announced that Strands Agents now support edge devices for use cases in automotive, gaming, and robotics. ...

Qualcomm Challenges Nvidia with New AI Chips for Data Centers Qualcomm is entering the data center market with its next-generation AI inference accelerators, the AI200 and AI250, directly challenging Nvidia’s dominance. These chips are engineered for high-performance generative AI inference, promising a lower total cost of ownership and superior power efficiency. The AI250, set for a 2027 release after the AI200 in 2026, will feature an innovative near-memory computing architecture to dramatically increase memory bandwidth. Designed for compatibility with major machine learning frameworks, this strategic expansion marks Qualcomm’s significant move from mobile technology into enterprise AI hardware. ...