US ride-hailing company Uber announced on Thursday that it plans to deploy at least 20,000 robotaxis over the next six years. The robotaxis are based on the Lucid Gravity model.

The company said the fleet would be comprised of SUVs manufactured by U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid and equipped with self-driving technology developed by start-up Nuro. As part of the partnership, Uber is investing $300 million in Tesla competitor Lucid.

“The vehicles will be owned and operated by Uber or its third-party fleet partners and made available to riders exclusively via the Uber platform,” the ride-hailing giant said in a statement. A prototype is currently being tested in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company said that it would “first launch in a major US city next year.”

Leading ambitions

Uber has already demonstrated its ambition to become the leading platform for robotaxis, having signed deals with German car giant Volkswagen and Waymo, the self-driving car company owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent firm.

In some U.S. cities (e.g., Atlanta and Austin), Waymo self-driving cars are already available on the platform. Robotaxis from Volkswagen are also set to be added to the offering. Earlier this week, Uber also announced a new partnership with Chinese self-driving car firm Momenta aimed at introducing autonomous services outside the U.S. and China.

The news has propelled Uber’s share to a 30% plus increase on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.

At the end of June, competitor Tesla launched its first robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. The service was a limited launch of 20 self-driving Model Ys in a restricted area of Austin, intended for use by a select audience of influencers. The debut has already sparked safety concerns.