Uber CEO Hails Japan Robotaxi Expansion as Global Autonomous Race Heats Up

M&A · PartnershipProduct / Tech
โดย Yahoo Finance·JPUS·Read original
Summary · why it matters

Uber Technologies CEO Dara Khosrowshahi hailed the expansion of the company's robotaxi operations in Japan, calling the country a terrific market. Uber signed an operational partnership with Japan's Hinomaru Kotsu to oversee fleet operations in Tokyo, with a late 2026 launch planned. The service will use Nissan Leaf EVs equipped with Wayve's AI Driver technology, initially with onboard safety drivers. Uber had previously planned to invest over $2 billion in Japan over five years, according to a Nikkei Asia report. The expansion comes as Uber's partnership with Alphabet's Waymo faces tensions, with Waymo reportedly considering an exit and planning its own service in Austin and Atlanta in January 2028.

Impact on stocks 3

Robotics & Physical AI▲ · 2 stocks
Uber Technologies Inc
UBER
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

Uber expands robotaxi operations in Japan with new partnership, boosting its autonomous ride-hailing business.

Alphabet Inc Class C
GOOG
± MixedCompetitionrelevance

Waymo reportedly considering exit from Uber partnership and planning own service, but impact unclear.

Electrification & Mobility▲ · 1 stocks
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
7201
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

Nissan Leaf EVs will be used in Uber's Tokyo robotaxi service, increasing demand for its vehicles.

Theme Impact 3

Off-coverage companies 2

Wayve Technologies LimitedPrivate▲ Positive
Technologyrelevance

Wayve's AI Driver technology selected for Uber's Japan robotaxi fleet, validating its tech.

Hinomaru KotsuPrivate▲ Positive
Demandrelevance

Hinomaru Kotsu partners with Uber to oversee fleet operations, expanding its business.

Related news

Tesla Seeks Federal Ruling Over Terafab Name for $16.8 Billion Chip Complex

Tesla and SpaceX are seeking a federal ruling that the Terafab name does not infringe trademark rights held by TERA-print, adding a legal fight to the company's planned $16.8 billion chip complex. Tesla filed three Terafab-related trademark applications in May, and the planned Texas operation would manufacture, package and test advanced logic and memory chips for Optimus robots, Cybercabs and SpaceX data centers. Tesla shares slipped roughly 1% to $362.84 on Friday. The stock trades 8.66% above its $333.92 GF Value, indicating investors still pay a premium for Tesla's long-term growth ambitions. The larger question is whether Tesla can turn the $16.8 billion capital commitment into reliable semiconductor output, since bringing chip production in-house adds execution risk around yields, utilization, engineering talent and manufacturing discipline.
SPCXTSLA
Robotics & Physical AI Artificial Intelligence Semiconductors
GuruFocus·14hRead more →
2

Caterpillar Expands Robot Trucks to Two More Virginia Quarries

Caterpillar announced on September 15 that its self-driving haul trucks at a Luck Stone quarry are moving large tonnage, with expansion to two more Virginia quarries, Boscobel and Bealeton, including the first autonomous deployment of Cat 775 trucks. The company disclosed no order value, truck count, or profit contribution from the autonomy milestone, and autonomy was named on the earnings call only as a source of higher SG&A and R&D expenses inside Resource Industries. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue reached $20.5 billion, up 24% year over year, with adjusted EPS of $8.17, up 73%, while backlog climbed to $72 billion, up roughly $35 billion versus a year earlier. Power & Energy is the engine, with segment sales up 17% to $8.2 billion and power generation sales up 72% on large gensets and turbines for data centers, and gas prime orders extend toward the back half of 2028 and into 2029. Caterpillar trades at $798.51 against a consensus analyst target of $975.61, a trailing PE of 34x, and full-year tariff costs of around $2.2 billion for 2026, with expected IEEPA tariff recoveries of approximately $400 million.
CAT ▲
Energy Transition & Power Demand ▲Robotics & Physical AI Artificial Intelligence
24/7 Wall St.·17hRead more →
▲3

Waymo to launch driverless taxi service in Singapore in 2028, its first foray into ASEAN

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle development company under Alphabet, announced on September 18 that it plans to launch a full driverless electric vehicle ride-hailing service in Singapore by 2028, marking its first entry into the Southeast Asian market. The first batch of driverless electric vehicles to be deployed will be the Jaguar I-PACE, which will be shipped to Singapore in the coming months. Under the plan for 2027, trained vehicle operators will begin human-supervised test drives to train and tune the Waymo Driver system to familiarise it with Singapore's road characteristics and monsoon weather, before officially opening the service to the general public in 2028. Waymo is working closely with Singapore's Ministry of Transport and the Land Transport Authority, or LTA. Singapore's Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow said Singapore welcomes Waymo's entry as the latest autonomous vehicle service provider. The move comes after Waymo earlier this week announced plans to launch Japan's first full commercial driverless taxi service in Tokyo by 2027. Waymo is currently valued at 126 billion US dollars as of last February, after raising 16 billion dollars, and continues to expand its fleet of driverless taxis amid fierce competition in the autonomous driving market with major rivals such as Amazon's Zoox and Tesla.
AMZNGOOGTSLA
Robotics & Physical AI ▲
InfoQuest·23hRead more →
© 2026 MarketDXNews