• Uber and WeRide plan to launch commercial Robotaxi services in the Greater Zurich Region.
• Separately, Uber, Stellantis, and Wayve are to jointly explore opportunities to bring Level 4 robotaxis to global markets.
• The developments come amid rising excitement around robotaxis, with new players like Tesla and Mobileye entering the space.

Shares of Uber Technologies (UBER) are in focus on Wednesday after the company unveiled two initiatives aimed at scaling the robotaxi side of the business to maintain dominance in the ride-hailing sector amid rising competition and growing popularity of driverless offerings.

Uber and Chinese autonomous driving solutions provider WeRide (WRD) disclosed plans to enter the Swiss market. On the other hand, the company is teaming up with Stellantis (STLA) and British driverless tech firm Wayve to bring robotaxis to markets globally.

At the time of writing, UBER stock was up just under 1% premarket, while WRD and STLA were up roughly 3% and were among trending tickers on Stocktwits.

Uber And WeRide To Launch Robotaxis In Zurich

Coming on the heels of their recently announced tie-up to enter the Madrid market, Uber and WeRide are planning to launch driverless ride-hailing services in the Greater Zurich Region.

The duo will work with Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office, the country’s regulator for road infrastructure and private transport, and, upon receiving the necessary approval, users will be able to book robotaxi rides through the Uber app.

Daily logistics and fleet management will be overseen by Rydera, a local mobility company. Services are expected to begin later this year.

Uber’s Global Robotaxi Ambition With Stellantis And Wayve

The trio signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to jointly explore opportunities to develop and deploy Level 4 robotaxis worldwide, while retaining the option to pursue additional partnerships.

The collaboration will leverage Stellantis’ Level 4 driverless tech, Wayve’s AI-powered automated driving platform, and Uber’s global presence. This builds on their existing agreement to deploy robotaxi services in London, Tokyo, and 10 other cities worldwide starting this year.

Level 4 vehicles have “high automation” that can drive without human intervention, but only within a region that has been thoroughly scanned and mapped and under suitable weather conditions. Beyond that is Level 5 with “full automation,” where vehicles can navigate in any region and under any weather conditions. Currently, there are no Level 5 vehicles in the market.

Robotaxi Competition Is Heating Up

The developments come amid the rising popularity of robotaxi services, with Alphabet’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Waymo and Baidu’s (BIDU) Apollo Go currently leading in the market. The autonomous ride-hailing services space is also seeing many competitors enter the market, such as Tesla (TSLA) and, most recently, Mobileye (MBLY), as they hope to capitalize on the sector, which is still in its infancy.

What Do Retail Traders Think About UBER?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward UBER stock turned ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ over the last 24 hours, with many users noting the robotaxi developments.

UBER stock is down over 10% so far this year and more than 14% over the last 12 months, underperforming the S&P 500.

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