In autonomous and self-driving vehicle news are Uber, Rivian, SANY, Pony.ai, Aurora, Detmar Logistics, Foretellix, Voxel51, Stellantis, Bolt, Mobileye, HOLON, PTC, Zoox and T-Mobile.
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Uber Aims for Global Robotaxi Network 2026
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says the company expects to offer robotaxi services in more than 10 countries by late 2026, positioning Uber as a leading global platform for autonomous ride-hailing. Potential new markets include Hong Kong, Japan, and broader Asia, alongside continued expansion in the US, MENA, and parts of Europe.
Autonomous vehicles are one of Uber’s six core strategic priorities, with Khosrowshahi expressing confidence that the technology is rapidly maturing and suited for major urban markets. He emphasized that regulatory readiness will be critical to scaling successful driverless operations.
Uber has invested hundreds of millions of dollars and secured 20 partnerships across robotaxis, freight, and delivery. Key collaborations include Waymo in several US cities, WeRide in the Middle East, Avride in Dallas, and a US$300 million partnership with Lucid and Nuro set to launch in 2026. Many current services still use safety drivers, with full driverless operations targeted for 2026.
Future deployments are planned in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Munich, Dubai, and Arlington. Uber has also partnered with Baidu to roll out robotaxis internationally using Apollo Go, alongside additional collaborations with Volkswagen, Mobileye, Pony.ai, and Momenta.
Rivian Reveals Autonomy+ Subscription
Rivian unveiled major advances in vehicle autonomy at its first Autonomy & AI Day, highlighting the Rivian Autonomy Processor (RAP1), a custom 5 nm chip designed to power next-generation AI-driven driving features. The company detailed its roadmap toward Level 4 autonomy, including Universal Hands-Free for current R1 models and future enhancements across R2 vehicles. Rivian will offer these capabilities through its Autonomy+ subscription, launching in early 2026 for $2,500 upfront or $49.99 per month, providing hands-free driving across millions of miles and evolving with software updates. (Read the full article)
SANY and Pony.ai Prepare 4th Autonomous Heavy Truck
SANY Group announced that its fourth-generation autonomous heavy-duty truck, co-developed with Pony.ai, is nearing mass-production readiness, with the first commercial fleet slated for deployment next year. The milestone positions China to further expand its global lead in autonomous freight and accelerate the logistics sector’s shift toward digital, intelligent, and low-carbon operations.
The new model features a 400 kWh battery pack capable of cutting carbon emissions by roughly 60 tons per vehicle each year. Built on SANY’s fully redundant drive-by-wire chassis—spanning steering, braking, power, sensing, communication, and computing—the truck has undergone extensive EMC and extreme-temperature testing to raise industry safety standards.
For fleet operators, a “1+4” platooning format—one human-operated lead truck guiding four unmanned units—could reduce freight costs by 29 percent per kilometer and nearly triple operating profit. The system is designed for scalable deployment in ports and logistics hubs.
Since forming their partnership in 2022, SANY and Pony.ai have advanced from prototypes to mass-production readiness, including achieving the world’s first “5G + autonomous driving + electrification” deployment for heavy-duty trucks. With mass production now imminent, the companies say the industry is poised to transition from pilot demonstrations to large-scale, unmanned commercial operations.
Aurora & Detmar Logistics Partner Autonomous Frac Sand Hauling
Aurora Innovation has signed a commercial agreement with Detmar Logistics to begin autonomous, around-the-clock transportation of frac sand for a major multinational oil and gas company—marking the first time proppants will be hauled autonomously on public highways in the Permian Basin.
The partnership establishes one of Aurora’s first customer-to-customer routes, connecting Detmar’s Midland, Texas facility with Capital Sand’s mining site in Monahans. Supervised autonomous operations will start early next year, with fully driverless service expected in Q2 2026 once Aurora deploys its second fleet of autonomous trucks.
Powered by the Aurora Driver system, Detmar’s trucks are expected to run nearly 24/7, doubling hauling capacity and improving road safety in a region with elevated crash rates. The autonomous system will also navigate complex tasks at the mine site, including positioning under overhead silos for automated loading.
Under the initial agreement, Detmar will deploy 30 Aurora Driver–equipped trucks in 2026, aiming to boost efficiency and support continuous frac operations. Detmar plans to expand its autonomous fleet as adoption grows, calling Aurora’s technology a “game changer” for meeting rising 24/7 sand demand in modern oilfield logistics.
Foretellix and Voxel51 AI Solution 3D Training Data for Autonomous Vehicles
Foretellix, a leading Physical AI toolchain provider for autonomous-vehicle safety, and Voxel51, a top visual AI data platform, have unveiled a combined solution that converts real-world drive logs into high-fidelity 3D scenes and neural reconstructions for training, testing, and validating next-generation AI-driven autonomous vehicle (AV) systems.
As AV developers shift toward end-to-end AI architectures, lack of diverse, high-quality real-world data has become a major obstacle. The joint workflow solves this by pairing Voxel51’s Physical AI Workbench—capable of auditing, correcting, and enriching multimodal sensor data—with Foretellix’s Foretify toolchain, which identifies gaps in operational design domain (ODD) coverage and generates synthetic sensor data and controlled scenario variations on top of accurate 3D reconstructions.
The pipeline uses NVIDIA’s Omniverse NuRec 3D Gaussian-splatting technology for reconstruction and integrates directly into FiftyOne for dataset inspection, visualization, and downstream model evaluation. The combined system enables AV teams to produce richer, more realistic, and more diverse datasets grounded in real-world conditions, reducing wasted compute and engineering time while improving safety-critical model validation.
Both companies emphasize that high-quality data is essential for the emerging era of AI-powered autonomy. The integration supports scalable, efficient development of safer AV stacks by uniting reliable data curation with automated scenario generation in a single end-to-end workflow.
Stellantis and Bolt Partner Driverless Ride-Hailing in Europe
Stellantis and Bolt announced a partnership to develop and deploy Level 4 autonomous vehicles for commercial ride-hailing across Europe. The collaboration will integrate Stellantis’ AV-Ready Platforms™—including its eK0 medium van and STLA Small platform—with Bolt’s extensive mobility network, which spans more than 50 countries.
The companies plan to begin testing autonomous prototypes in Europe in 2026, followed by phased pilot fleets and large-scale deployment, with initial production targeted for 2029. Stellantis’ platforms are designed for high safety, scalability, and low total cost of ownership, meeting strict European reliability and regulatory requirements.
The partnership strengthens Stellantis’ driverless mobility strategy and supports Bolt’s long-term goal of deploying 100,000 autonomous vehicles on its platform by 2035, all while collaborating with European regulators to ensure safe, responsible rollout.
Oslo Mobileye-Powered ID. Buzz AD in 2026
Ruter, Oslo’s public transport agency, and autonomous-operations specialist Holo will partner with MOIA to launch the ID. Buzz AD equipped with Mobileye Drive™ as early as spring 2026. The deployment marks a shift to Mobileye’s second-generation EyeQ™ 6H-based self-driving system, following two years of testing in Oslo’s Groruddalen district under challenging real-world conditions including snow-covered roads.
The initiative aligns with Ruter’s long-term vision of integrating up to 30,000 shared autonomous vehicles into Oslo’s transit network to cut congestion and emissions. The project expands Mobileye Drive’s growing footprint after partnerships with Hamburg’s Hochbahn, Berlin’s BVG, and Uber in North America, positioning the ID. Buzz AD as one of Europe’s first series-production-ready Level 4 autonomous vehicles.
Mobileye will share further updates at CES 2026.
HOLON Adopts PTC’s Windchill+
PTC announced that HOLON, a BENTELER Group subsidiary focused on autonomous and inclusive mobility, is using the Windchill+ cloud PLM platform to accelerate development of its Level-4 autonomous electric shuttle, the HOLON urban. Designed for barrier-free access and up to 15 passengers, the vehicle will support scheduled routes, on-demand service, ride-pooling, and goods transport.
HOLON deployed Windchill+ in six months, replacing manual processes with a fully digital product development environment. The cloud-based PLM system enables real-time collaboration across teams in Germany and the U.S., supports HOLON’s flexible production strategy for building multiple vehicle variants on one line, and provides the speed and agility needed to execute the company’s five-year mobility vision.
Executives from HOLON and PTC emphasized that the platform is a critical milestone as EVs become more electric, connected, autonomous, and software-defined. Windchill+ gives HOLON a robust product-data foundation to manage complexity, meet compliance requirements, and enable AI-driven improvements across the organization.
Zoox Partners with T-Mobile Arena tAutonomous Ride-Hailing
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and autonomous ride-hailing company Zoox have announced a multi-year strategic partnership, marking Zoox’s first collaboration with a major sports arena. Beginning in early 2026, Zoox riders will be able to request autonomous rides to and from the arena, with a dedicated pickup and drop-off lane at the West VIP entrance, exclusive rider perks, and on-site wayfinding signage.
The agreement integrates Zoox’s technology into the fan experience, enhancing accessibility and convenience for the arena’s more than one million annual visitors attending events including Vegas Golden Knights games, concerts, and special events. Zoox branding will feature throughout the venue, including concourse bars, digital signage, and visitor communications.
This collaboration builds on Zoox’s existing presence in Las Vegas, which already connects riders to destinations like Resorts World, AREA15, and Topgolf. The partnership exemplifies a convergence of innovative mobility and entertainment, aiming to make event travel seamless while extending the curated fan experience beyond the arena.