Lyft eyes robotaxi launch in 2026
Lyft says it will launch a fleet of robotaxis, using self-driving technology from Intel’s Mobileye, in Dallas in “as soon as 2026,” with plans to scale to ”thousands” of vehicles in additional markets in the months to follow. To signal its seriousness, the company tapped Marubeni, a Japanese conglomerate, to run fleet operations.
Lyft’s news comes after Uber dropped new details about its plan to feature Waymo’s robotaxis on its platform in Austin and Atlanta later this year. And Tesla recently shared plans to launch a robotaxi service in Austin this summer.
Lyft is taking a similar approach as Uber, offering its ridehail platform to different self-driving developers who want to connect with customers without having to build their own customer-facing operation. Like Uber, Lyft’s interest is staying as “asset light” as possible, needing other companies to own, operate, and maintain the robotaxi fleet for its customers.
Toward that end, Lyft says that Marubeni is a global leader in fleet management, with over 900,000 vehicles worldwide through various subsidiaries and joint ventures. Lyft says the company will use its Flexdrive fleet-management capabilities “to minimize total cost of vehicle ownership and maximize fleet utilization.” Marubeni does not appear to have any specific experience with ridehail or autonomous vehicle operations, but as TechCrunch noted, it has worked with Mobileye on on-demand mobility in Japan.
“They’re aiming to be leaders in the emerging AV space, and we look forward to working together,” Lyft CEO David Risher said in a post on X.
Marubeni will own the vehicles that operate with Mobileye technology. The Intel-owned company is a supplier of advanced driver assist technology to a number of top automakers, including Ford, Volkswagen, and Toyota.
Lyft is scrambling to keep up with its main rival Uber in the race to gain a toehold in the world of autonomous vehicles. Uber has already struck deals with Waymo, Cruise (now defunct), Aurora, Motional, and Avride. Meanwhile Lyft has preexisting partnerships with Waymo (which has now ended) and Motional. The ridehail company had thought to develop its own robotaxis, but eventually sold off its AV research and development division to a subsidiary of Toyota back in 2021.