Uber, Lucid & Nuro team up on robotaxis by 2026 | E2173

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis

Technology

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 3 September 2025

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s show:

Jason and Alex are joined by Nuro’s Dave Ferguson to unpack the Lucid–Uber–Nuro deal aiming to launch fully driverless Gravity SUVs on Uber by 2026. They dig into why off-the-shelf sensors and Nvidia’s Thor chip drive costs down, how mapping 150 cities improves safety, and why lidar still matters for night and edge cases. Plus: lessons from Cruise’s collapse, how regulators think about safety multiples, and why autonomy could finally make rides cheaper than owning a car.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Show intro…

(06:23) Uber x Lucid x Nuro: why this 2026 robotaxi deal matters

(09:57) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(11:13) What the self-driving “cost stack” really looks like in 2025

(14:08) Road-mapping at scale: Nuro’s 150-city data collection push

(15:38) Can AVs handle snow & rain? Weather rollout and Uber Black positioning

(20:05) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!

(21:07) Show Continues…

(24:24) Probabilistic vs. deterministic driving models — and the DARPA roots

(30:08) Stripe Startups - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on stripe.com/startups.

(31:08) Show Continues…

(35:38) Post-Cruise reality check: transparency, regulators & trust

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You know, there is an ethical argument as much as, you know, it may be a little bit uncomfortable.
0:04.9	There's a pretty strong ethical argument that as soon as you are epsilon safer than an average human driver,
0:11.6	you are actually costing lives if you delay deploying this technology.
0:18.8	This weekend startups is brought to you by Stripe Startups.
0:23.1	Stripe Startups offers early stage, venture-backed startups, access to Stripe Feed Credits,
0:27.9	expert insights, and a focused community of builders.
0:31.0	Apply today on Stripe.com slash startups.
0:35.5	Northwest Registered Agent, starting your business should be simple.
0:39.5	With Northwest Registered Agent, you can form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes.
0:45.5	From LLCs to trademarks, domains to custom websites, they've got you covered.
0:49.4	Get more privacy, more options, and more done.
0:53.1	Visit Northwest Registeragent.com slash twist today.
0:58.2	And lemon.com.
1:00.4	Hire pre-vetted remote developers and get 15% off your first four weeks of developer time
1:06.1	at lemon.io slash twist.
1:09.8	Hey, everybody, welcome back to this week in startups. I'm your host, Jason
1:12.6	Calacanis, and I talk really fast because I'm from Brooklyn, born in 1970, was a magazine publisher,
1:18.9	then a blog publisher, podcaster, angel investor, founder, all those great things. Man, people,
1:26.4	I forget like half the different careers I've had, Alex.
1:30.6	And we reminisced yesterday a little bit about my publishing days as a print publisher.
1:34.7	And I decided in 26, it's a big announcement.
1:40.8	Okay.
	...

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