Uber is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into Lucid and autonomous vehicle technology startup Nuro in a bid to launch its own robotaxi service.

That makes Uber a logical partner for autonomous vehicle (AV) companies. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sees robotaxis as at $1 trillion opportunity in the U.S. alone, and he recently told analysts, "Uber can deliver the lowest operational costs for our AV partners because we are leaps and bounds ahead on every aspect of the go-to-market capabilities."

Key Takeaways Lucid shares jumped 36% Thursday on news the EV startup is partnering with self-driving software maker Nuro and rideshare giant Uber Technologies to bring a new group of robotaxis to Uber's platform.

Uber and Baidu join forces in the self-driving taxi market, combining Uber's network with Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxi fleet that has completed over 11 million rides across 15 cities.