Lucid Group, Inc., Uber Technologies, Inc. and physical AI company Nuro, Inc. announced Houston as the second planned market for their robotaxi program, following the San Francisco Bay Area launch later this year. The companies expect to launch the service in Houston in mid-2027 exclusively through the Uber network, with plans to expand the service to dozens of additional markets over the coming years.
Nuro has begun conducting autonomous on-road testing with safety operators in Houston. The company is leading autonomous driving development and validation for the program through a measured approach that includes simulation, closed-course testing and supervised public-road testing.
The robotaxi engineering fleet supporting this work includes nearly 100 vehicles across California and Texas, with operations running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The test fleet is expected to expand further in the coming weeks as Lucid manufactures the first production validation robotaxis at its Arizona factory, which will also be used for safety testing and homologation.
Uber also secured a 50,000-square-foot depot facility and dedicated charging pitstop in Houston.
As the fourth-largest city in the U.S., Houston offers the scale, trip diversity and clear regulatory framework that make it a compelling market for autonomous mobility. Nuro has maintained a presence in the city since 2019 and conducted Level 4 autonomous operations on public roads.
“Houston’s large, complex metro area is an ideal market for demonstrating how Nuro’s universal autonomy platform can generalize across different geographies and operating environments,” Nuro Chief Operating Officer Andrew Chapin said.
Announced in July 2025, the global robotaxi program brings together Lucid’s advanced electric vehicles and factory integration, Nuro’s Level 4 universal autonomy platform and validation expertise and Uber’s global ride-hailing platform, fleet operations and rider network. The program will initially launch in the San Francisco Bay Area later this year and calls for a minimum of 35,000 vehicles globally across dozens of markets over the coming years.
The robotaxi service will leverage the Lucid Gravity as well as future Lucid mid-size vehicles equipped with the Nuro Driver, Nuro’s Level 4 universal autonomy platform, and includes a redundant sensor suite with cameras, lidar, radar and a roof-mounted halo.
Uber is designing the broader in-cabin experience, including personalization, support and rider controls, with autonomy visualization provided by Nuro. The vehicles will be owned and operated by Uber and its fleet partners and made available to riders exclusively through the Uber network.
