Uber Technologies (UBER) has sold off its entire stake in Serve Robotics Inc. (SERV), a move that signals an irreconcilable fundamental disagreement between the two parties over the deployment model for delivery robots, while simultaneously delivering another blow to Uber’s overall strategy of advancing autonomous services. Serve Robotics, known for manufacturing four-wheeled sidewalk delivery robots with operations spanning cities including Los Angeles and Miami, has counted Uber as a significant investor since the company was spun off from Postmates—which Uber acquired—in 2020.
Since at least early 2025, Uber had been steadily reducing its stake in Serve, pivoting instead to increased investment in areas such as robotaxis that more closely align with its long-term strategic vision. Regulatory filings last Friday revealed that Uber had fully divested its holdings in the second quarter, during which its executives also resigned from Serve’s board of directors. Serve stated that the resignations did not stem from disagreements with the company, but the day before Uber disclosed its complete exit, Serve Chief Executive Officer Ali Kashani had explicitly said during an earnings call that the company did not intend to renew its partnership agreement when it expires in early 2027. Kashani stated frankly that the two sides held fundamental differences over the operating model for scaling a shared autonomous fleet, spanning areas such as fleet coordination and merchant integration. He also noted that Serve’s partnership experiences with Uber competitor DoorDash and other partners demonstrated that alignment on model design could yield better results.
It is understood that in the second quarter, the order volume Uber provided to Serve declined on a sequential basis, making it difficult for Serve to support further expansion of its fleet size. Filings showed that during the period, Serve’s daily active robot count declined for the first time, and robot standby hours decreased by 4.7% sequentially. According to sources familiar with the matter, Uber had expressed concerns over Serve’s operational performance and reliability when expanding into new markets, citing a negative incident in which a robot collided with a bus stop in Chicago, as well as Serve’s practice of rejecting orders when it anticipated being unable to deliver on time. In addition, the two sides disagreed over the accuracy of estimated time of arrival (ETA) predictions, which affected delivery efficiency.
Following its divestiture from Serve, Uber still maintains relationships with four other robotics suppliers, including Coco Robotics and Avride, and emphasized that it would continue to partner with delivery service providers, including drone manufacturers.
