Lyft Partners with Mobileye for Self-Driving Taxi Development

(Reuters) – Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) announced on Wednesday its new partnerships with Mobileye and two additional companies in the robotaxi sector. This collaboration aims to integrate self-driving cars into its ride-hailing platform and enhance research and development in this field.

The app-based taxi service will feature vehicles from third-party fleet operators that are equipped with the Mobileye Drive self-driving system. This move is intended to help Lyft compete against Uber (NYSE:UBER), which has secured numerous autonomous taxi agreements.

Lyft will also work with May Mobility to launch self-driving taxis in Atlanta starting next year. Additionally, a partnership with Nexar, a company that utilizes machine learning and computer vision to improve driving, aims to leverage Lyft's fleet data alongside Nexar’s vehicle video footage for research and development purposes.

These collaborative efforts come in the wake of Uber's partnerships with Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s Waymo, General Motors (NYSE:GM)'s Cruise, and China's WeRide, solidifying its position as a leader in the robotaxi market.

However, analysts and industry experts have warned that the creation of autonomous driving systems and robotaxis will entail significant engineering and regulatory challenges. Meanwhile, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) recently introduced its Cybercab robotaxi concept, expected to commence production in 2026, and has begun testing ride-hailing services with employees in San Francisco.