Two years after cutting 40% of its workforce and pausing all commercial operations, Hyundai-backed autonomous vehicle company Motional returns to Las Vegas with a robotaxi service on Uber's platform starting Friday.
The relaunch marks a dramatic turnaround for Motional, which faced near-collapse in 2024 when joint venture partner Aptiv withdrew funding. Hyundai stepped in with nearly $1 billion to keep the company alive through a restructuring that included layoffs of approximately 550 employees across multiple locations.
Uber riders in Las Vegas may now be matched with Motional's IONIQ 5 autonomous vehicles when requesting UberX, Uber Electric, or Uber Comfort rides at no additional cost. The service covers designated rideshare zones at Resorts World Las Vegas, Encore at the Wynn, Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, Downtown Las Vegas curbside locations, and Town Square shopping district near the airport.
Initially, each vehicle will operate with a human safety operator monitoring from the driver's seat. Both companies expect to remove safety operators and launch fully driverless service by the end of 2026.
Riders receive notification in the Uber app when matched with an autonomous vehicle and can choose to accept it or switch to a conventional ride. Users can increase their chances of getting an AV by enabling autonomous vehicle pickup in their app settings.
The IONIQ 5 robotaxi represents one of the first SAE Level 4-capable vehicles certified under U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Level 4 autonomy means the vehicle can handle all driving functions within defined operational parameters without human intervention.
Motional's recovery involved more than just financial restructuring. The company paused commercial activities to rebuild its technology foundation, shifting toward a neural network-driven approach similar to other industry players.
"We made the very hard decision to pause our commercial activities, to slow down in the near term so that we could speed up," Motional president and CEO Laura Major said during CES 2026 presentations.
The relaunch follows Motional's $550 million Series B funding round in August 2025 led by Aptiv and joined by Hyundai and Nuance Investments, which valued the company at $6.5 billion.
For Uber, the Motional partnership represents another piece in its multi-provider autonomous vehicle strategy. The ride-hailing company now works with more than 25 AV partners globally across its Mobility, Delivery, and Freight divisions.
This week alone saw multiple autonomous vehicle announcements from Uber. The company confirmed plans to deploy Amazon-owned Zoox robotaxis on its platform in Las Vegas later this year, followed by Los Angeles in mid-2027.
Uber also announced a collaboration with Nissan and British startup Wayve for a Tokyo robotaxi pilot targeted for late 2026.
Uber plans to invest more than $100 million in charging infrastructure for autonomous vehicles as part of its broader electrification strategy. The company launched its Autonomous Solutions division earlier this year under president Sarfraz Maredia to help AV technology companies commercialize deployments faster through demand generation and fleet management services.
Both companies plan to expand the operating area beyond initial Las Vegas locations but have not provided specific expansion timelines.
