Uber Technologies has announced plans to deploy 100,000 autonomous vehicles powered by Nvidia technology, marking a significant expansion that could reduce robotaxi operating costs and accelerate commercialization of the expensive technology.

The companies expect the rollout to begin in 2027, Nvidia announced Tuesday during its GTC conference in Washington, DC. The collaboration builds on a January partnership where Uber agreed to share driving data to improve Nvidia’s AI models and chip technology for autonomous vehicle development.

Technology Platform and Manufacturing Partners

Nvidia unveiled its Drive AGX Hyperion 10 platform, enabling manufacturers to equip vehicles with hardware and sensors compatible with autonomous-driving software. Stellantis will be among the first automakers delivering at least 5,000 Nvidia-powered robotaxis for Uber’s U.S. and international operations, with Uber managing fleet operations including remote assistance, charging, cleaning, maintenance, and customer support.

Stellantis will collaborate with Foxconn on hardware and systems integration, targeting production start in 2028 with initial U.S. operations. Pilot programs and testing are expected to expand over coming years.

Current Operations and Expansion Strategy

Uber currently offers autonomous rides in Austin and Atlanta through Alphabet’s Waymo, and in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia via China’s WeRide. However, existing fleet sizes remain limited—Waymo’s Austin and Atlanta presence is expected to reach only “hundreds” of vehicles, minimal compared to Uber’s millions of human drivers and couriers globally.

The limited scale makes profit margin optimization difficult, as Uber currently outsources robotaxi fleet operations, including daily charging, cleaning, and maintenance.

Data Factory and Development

Uber and Nvidia are building a “robotaxi data factory” for autonomous vehicle advancement. Uber will collect over three million hours of robotaxi-specific driving data for model training and validation, while Nvidia provides processors, AI models, and associated tools for data curation, search, and simulation.

“Together, these capabilities form a powerful data engine – spanning ingestion, labeling, scenario mining, synthetic data generation and large-scale training – that aims to shorten the path from pilot to profitable autonomy deployment,” Uber stated.

The 100,000-vehicle target includes 20,000 Lucid Gravity and Nuro vehicles Uber committed to purchasing in July. Existing and future robotaxi partners, including Avride, May Mobility, Momenta, Pony.ai, Wayve Technologies, and WeRide, can utilize Nvidia technology to contribute to the fleet expansion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a successful final test of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile over the weekend, marking a significant development in Moscow’s strategic weapons arsenal amid its ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Experts assess the very-long-range weapon as designed to circumvent Western air defenses through terrain-hugging, low-altitude flight capabilities, though its immediate strategic impact remains constrained.

Technical Specifications – Burevestnik Missile

Putin first unveiled the Burevestnik Missile’s development in 2018, prior to Russia’s 2022 Ukraine invasion, declaring Sunday’s test successful. Unlike conventional chemical-fueled missiles, the Burevestnik—meaning “storm bird” in Russian—employs a nuclear reactor for propulsion.

“The reactor heats the ambient air and expels it at high speed to generate thrust,” explained Amaury Dufay, expert at France’s Strategy and Defence Studies Institute. “This allows for considerably longer flight time and range. It’s a bit as if you had a car engine that consumes less for each 100 km (60 miles).”

During the October 21 test, the missile flew approximately 15 hours, covering 14,000 kilometers—sufficient range to reach the United States.

“Its aim is to fly for a long time, very low, between 15 and 200 metres (49 to 650 feet), which complicates detection,” Dufay noted, suggesting potential circuitous routes through less-defended areas.

However, the missile’s relatively slow speed impacts maneuverability, according to French nuclear expert Heloise Fayet.

Strategic Purpose

The weapon aims to evade air defenses, including US President Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile shield, Russian analyst Dmitry Stefanovich explained on X.

Fayet suggested the Burevestnik Missile could complement traditional missiles. “With its manoeuvring abilities and unlimited range,” it could be deployed for “harassing and weakening missile defences” before conventional strikes.

Current Limitations

Despite Putin ordering necessary deployment infrastructure, the missile’s strategic impact remains limited. “The missile is not yet operational—there isn’t for the moment any deployment infrastructure, no doctrine for its use,” Fayet stated.

She characterized it as “an attempt by Putin to continue to exhaust Trump on the nuclear and missile defence issues,” describing the Burevestnik as a “destabilisation weapon.”

Radiation Concerns

Regarding radioactivity risks, Fayet noted Norway’s radiation monitoring agency detected nothing despite the test passing through its coverage area. However, Dufay believes contamination likely occurred, stating: “The missile itself is radioactive once the reactor is activated.”