What Happened to Uber's Advanced Technologies Group (ATG)?

Uber's journey into self-driving technology began with ambitious goals to revolutionize its ride-hailing service by replacing human drivers with autonomous vehicles. In 2015, the company established its Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) to spearhead this effort, aggressively recruiting talent and acquiring startups like Otto, a self-driving truck company, in 2016. However, this pursuit was fraught with challenges, including a high-profile lawsuit with Waymo over alleged trade secret theft and, most significantly, a fatal accident in March 2018 involving an Uber self-driving test vehicle that struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. This incident led to a temporary halt in testing and intense scrutiny, highlighting the immense technical and safety hurdles in autonomous vehicle development.

Despite a $1 billion investment round in April 2019 from Toyota, SoftBank, and Denso, which valued ATG at $7.25 billion, the division continued to be a significant financial drain on Uber, reportedly losing over $300 million in 2020 alone. The immense capital expenditure and the long timeline to profitability for in-house autonomous vehicle development became increasingly difficult for Uber, especially as the company sought to achieve overall profitability. This financial pressure, coupled with the technical complexities and the aftermath of the fatal crash, ultimately led Uber to re-evaluate its strategy.

The pivotal turning point came in December 2020 when Uber announced the sale of ATG to Aurora Innovation, a self-driving technology startup backed by Amazon. The deal, which officially closed in January 2021, valued ATG at $4 billion. As part of the agreement, Uber invested $400 million into Aurora, securing a 26% ownership stake in the combined entity, which was then valued at $10 billion. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also joined Aurora's board of directors. This move allowed Uber to offload the operational costs and risks of developing autonomous hardware and software, while still retaining a vested interest in the future of autonomous mobility through its equity in Aurora.

As of April 2026, the landscape for both Aurora and Uber has evolved significantly. Aurora, bolstered by ATG's talent and technology, has primarily focused on commercializing autonomous trucking. The company has made substantial progress, deploying driverless trucks on commercial routes in the U.S. Sun Belt, including a 1,000-mile corridor between Fort Worth and Phoenix. By January 2026, Aurora had surpassed 250,000 driverless miles with a perfect safety record and aims to have over 200 driverless trucks in operation by the end of 2026, integrating its Aurora Driver hardware with truck platforms from partners like Volvo and PACCAR.

Uber, on the other hand, has fully embraced an asset-light, platform-centric approach to autonomous mobility. In February 2026, Uber launched 'Uber Autonomous Solutions,' a division dedicated to helping partners commercialize autonomous vehicles on its network. Uber is actively partnering with a diverse array of autonomous vehicle developers, including Waymo, Motional (Hyundai's AV arm), WeRide, Waabi, Volkswagen, Rivian, and Lucid. Through these collaborations, Uber is facilitating robotaxi services in numerous cities globally, such as Atlanta, Austin, Phoenix, Dallas, Las Vegas, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, and is planning expansions to Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Houston, Madrid, Zurich, and Tokyo by the end of 2026. Uber aims to become the world's largest facilitator of autonomous vehicle trips by 2029, leveraging its vast ride-hailing network to integrate third-party autonomous fleets.