Uber Technologies plans to launch a robotaxi program in Munich, Germany, the ride-hailing company said, partnering with Israeli artificial-intelligence startup Autobrains Technologies and using Nvidia’s Drive Hyperion autonomous driving platform. The companies said they chose Munich for its dense streets and high-speed road networks, saying the German city provides the right environment to launch robotaxis at scale, pending regulator approval. The announcement came at the beginning of Nvidia’s GTC conference in Taipei.
The program marks Uber’s latest step in its European autonomous-vehicle push. Uber gave up on its own driverless taxi development years ago after selling its self-driving-car unit to Aurora Innovation, turning to partnerships with external companies to provide the service on its platform. The companies said the Munich program would let carmakers that want to take part combine their vehicles with autonomous technology and fleet operations within Uber’s ride-hailing ecosystem.
“The challenge is not just building autonomous vehicles—it’s bringing them into a commercial network where they can reliably serve riders at scale,” Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s global head of autonomous mobility and delivery, said. “This program creates a new path to do that.”
The technology behind the partnership
Autobrains’ technology enables vehicles to understand context, assess risks and make decisions in real time, according to the companies. The software relies on several AI agents to reason and take action, rather than having a single model handle the full task of driving. Nvidia’s Drive Hyperion platform helps auto companies and startups create, test and roll out driver-assisted and autonomous-driving programs at scale, according to Nvidia.
Last year, Uber and self-driving startup Wayve Technologies agreed to launch public-road trials of fully autonomous vehicles in London. The companies said at the time they chose the U.K. capital because of its significantly different road layouts and traffic laws compared with U.S. locations, where most testing had been conducted. Now, Uber and Autobrains hope to venture into Munich’s streets, saying the German city provides the next environment to test the technology at commercial scale.
Autonomous driving expands across Europe
The Munich program arrives as autonomous and assisted driving gains traction across Europe. Last week, the Estonian Transport Administration said it would allow Tesla drivers to use the company’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system that helps them change lanes and navigate around other vehicles and objects.
Estonia became the EU’s third member state to approve Tesla FSD, following Lithuania last month and the Netherlands in April. The Netherlands Vehicle Authority, or RDW, said the system had been tested for more than a year and a half and that using it correctly made a positive contribution to road safety.
The Dutch authority submitted an application to have the technology approved across the EU, though individual countries can recognize the Dutch approval and allow Tesla to roll out FSD as EU authorities review the application.