Grab Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GRAB) plans to introduce autonomous robobuses in Singapore in early 2026, while exploring ways to retrain human drivers for emerging technology-focused roles.
Grab Accelerates Autonomous Vehicle Expansion In Singapore
During Grab's quarterly earnings call covering the three months ending Sept. 30, CEO and co-founder Anthony Tan detailed the company's roadmap for autonomous vehicles (AVs), as reported by Fortune.
"Grab will continue to build new partnerships with more global remote driving and AV leaders, participate in more pilots to understand the operational conditions for different driverless services, and be part of the regulators' efforts to improve transport connectivity through driverless technologies," Tan said.
Grab successfully piloted autonomous vehicles in September with Chinese robotaxi operator WeRide and plans a strategic equity investment in the firm next year.
The company also invested in U.S.-based May Mobility, which runs commercial robotaxi services.
Upskilling Drivers For AI And Autonomous Vehicle Roles
Tan emphasized potential new roles for current drivers, saying, "We see new kinds of jobs emerging. For example, drivers could be remote safety drivers, data labelers; they could change LiDARs, cameras, and so forth."
This move highlights Grab's approach to balance automation with human employment as it scales its AV operations.
Grab reported revenue of $873 million, up 22% year-over-year, with growth across ride-hailing, deliveries, and financial services.
Ride-hailing revenue rose 17% to $317 million, deliveries grew 23% to $465 million, and financial services jumped 39% to $90 million. Net income was $17 million, slightly above last year's $15 million.
Autonomous Vehicles Race Heats Up: Tesla And Uber Push Robotaxis
Tesla Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) George Bahadue praised the company's readiness for autonomous vehicles and Robotaxis.
He claimed Tesla was ahead of Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) self-driving unit, Waymo, by building the full technology stack "end to end," including vehicles, software, ride-hailing, and charging networks.
Meanwhile, Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said most cars could become autonomous within 20+ years and predicted humans would eventually be less safe than robots on the road.
Khosrowshahi's comments coincided with Uber's partnerships with Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), Lucid Group Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID) and Nuro to deploy over 100,000 autonomous vehicles by 2027, including 20,000 Lucid robotaxis, leveraging Nvidia's AI hardware and software.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo by Piotr Swat via Shutterstock
