Nuro has received regulatory approval to begin testing autonomous vehicles with passengers on public roads in California, marking another milestone in its planned robotaxi partnership with Uber and Lucid.
The approval allows Nuro to conduct test drives with passengers while a safety driver remains behind the wheel. The company also received separate approval to test vehicles on public roads without occupants, meaning no safety driver or passengers are required during those operations.
The permits expand Nuro’s testing capabilities but stop short of authorising a fully commercial robotaxi service. Under current rules, the company is not yet permitted to operate fully autonomous passenger rides without a safety driver or to charge passengers for trips.
“These approvals mark another meaningful step forward as we continue preparing for launch in California,” said James Owens, Chief Legal and Policy Officer at Nuro.
“They expand what we can validate on public roads and reflect the steady progress our team is making across technology, operations, rider experience, and regulatory readiness,” Owens added.
Uber announced in 2025 that it planned to integrate thousands of autonomous vehicles built by Lucid into its ride-hailing platform over the coming years. The vehicles are expected to use autonomous driving technology developed by Nuro.
Nuro was founded in 2016 by Jiajun Zhu and Dave Ferguson, former members of the Google self-driving car programme that later evolved into Waymo.
The company initially focused on autonomous delivery vehicles and local logistics services before shifting toward passenger transportation and robotaxi development.
Since announcing its partnership with Uber and Lucid, Nuro has continued expanding its development programme. In August 2025, the company completed a $203 million funding round that included participation from Uber and Nvidia.
The companies later began road testing in San Francisco in December using autonomous vehicles equipped with safety drivers but without passengers. At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, they unveiled the first robotaxi prototype based on the Lucid Gravity electric SUV.
According to the companies, the current test fleet includes around 100 Lucid Gravity vehicles equipped with Nuro’s autonomous driving hardware and software systems.
Nuro employees currently serve as safety drivers during testing, while Uber employees have been participating as passengers in internal trial rides since April. Those test rides can already be booked internally through the Uber app.
The latest approvals place Nuro among a growing number of autonomous driving companies expanding testing activity in California as competition intensifies in the emerging robotaxi sector.
