Nuro, a Silicon Valley startup backed by Nvidia, Uber, and SoftBank, is testing its autonomous vehicle technology in Japan. Toyota Prius vehicles equipped with Nuro’s self-driving software and human safety operators are being tested on Tokyo’s public roads. This marks the startup’s first international expansion following a pivot in its business model two years ago.
Testing in Japan presents challenges like driving on the left, dense traffic, and different road signs. Nuro, which has an office in Tokyo, hasn’t revealed the size of its test fleet or plans to remove human operators. The company hinted at future expansions in a blog post.
Founded in 2016 by former Google engineers Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu, Nuro initially focused on low-speed delivery bots, attracting a $940 million investment from SoftBank in 2019. Due to development costs and industry changes, Nuro later shifted to licensing its technology to automakers and mobility companies.
Nuro’s AI-based autonomy system learns as it drives, even on unfamiliar roads like Tokyo’s. This “zero-shot autonomous driving” approach is similar to U.K.-based Wayve. Safety remains a priority; new software releases are tested on closed courses and in simulation before real-world testing in “shadow mode,” where the AI produces actions without sending commands to vehicle controls.
Nuro evaluates readiness for autonomous operation by reviewing these results. The company raised $203 million in a Series E round from investors including Baillie Gifford, Icehouse Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Nvidia, and Pledge Ventures, with Uber participating as part of a deal with Lucid for a robotaxi service.