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The move is a step toward Uber challenging Alphabet’s Waymo, whose driverless taxis have become ubiquitous in San Francisco. Road testing is underway.

“If we have to have a steering wheel, it can have a steering wheel and pedals,” Robyn Denholm, the chair of Tesla’s board of directors, told Bloomberg News in an interview Oct. 28.

As part of the collaboration, Stellantis will be among the first automakers to deliver at least 5,000 Nvidia-powered robotaxis for Uber’s operations in the U.S. and internationally.

Uber invested in the U.S. IPOs of both Pony AI and WeRide, and the new investments reported by Bloomberg would deepen ties with the Chinese robotaxi firms.

Uber’s investment expands on a multiyear partnership with Austin-based Avride to deploy autonomous vehicles and food delivery robots.

The agreement involves a battery-powered minivan as the initial fleet model for “accelerating the development and deployment of robotaxi solutions in Europe,” the companies said.

Tesla's chair insists no one other than Elon Musk is capable of leading the company’s transition into artificial intelligence and robotics — but it’s possible he won’t do it from the CEO’s seat.

All rides will be provided for free for at least the first few months to help promote the existence of the service in the perennially popular travel destination.

A new job listing in Tesla’s Autopilot operations seeks a driver for a prototype vehicle that would gather data for as much as eight hours a day.