Uber and Cruise Partner for Autonomous Vehicles Resurgence

Uber and Cruise, the robotaxi firm backed by General Motors, are partnering to offer autonomous vehicles on Uber's ride-hailing platform starting next year. This follows Cruise's efforts to regain trust after a major accident. The deal is part of Uber's strategy to expand its autonomous vehicle offerings while navigating regulatory challenges.

In a significant move aimed at revamping its autonomous vehicle ambitions, Cruise will start offering its self-driving cars on Uber's ride-hailing platform next year, the companies announced on Thursday. This multi-year partnership is designed to provide Uber riders the option of selecting a Cruise autonomous vehicle for their trips.

Shares of General Motors, which backs Cruise, saw a slight uptick of 1.3% in after-hours trading, while Uber's shares declined by 1.5%. This move marks a critical phase for Cruise as it attempts to recover from a major accident in San Francisco last year, which had led the company to halt its operations.

Uber's collaboration with Cruise follows its existing partnership with Alphabet-owned Waymo in Phoenix, and highlights Uber's broader ambitions to integrate autonomous vehicles into its service offerings despite past challenges such as tight regulatory scrutiny and soaring technology costs.

(With inputs from agencies.)