Uber to put 500 data-collection vehicles on the road this year

Uber unveiled a Hyundai Ioniq 5 prototype equipped with cameras, lidar, radar, and Nvidia computing to collect real-world driving data for partners including Avride, Waymo, and WeRide. The company plans to deploy 500 vehicles globally this year, generating up to 2 million miles of high-fidelity data per month for robotaxi development.

Uber is re-entering the autonomous vehicle stack indirectly, positioning itself as a data and marketplace layer rather than rebuilding its own self-driving unit. If its AV Labs program scales, Uber could become a critical infrastructure provider for autonomy companies that need diverse, real-world training data.

The modified Ioniq 5 will be loaded with sensors to capture data for Uber's new AV Labs division.