Uber is selling its self-driving car business to Aurora as it races to turn a profit amid the pandemic

• Uber announced on Monday that it’s selling its self-driving car unit to the startup Aurora. 
• Uber will also invest $400 million into the company as part of the deal. 
• Earlier this year, Uber made a similar move by offloading JUMP Bikes to Lime as part of an investment in the startup. 
• No pricetag was disclosed for the self-driving deal. 
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The self-driving startup Aurora is buying Uber’s “advanced technologies group,” the companies announced Monday, as the ride-hailing giant continues to grapple with a pandemic downturn in its core taxi business. 

As part of the deal, Uber will also invest $400 million in Aurora in a move similar to when it off-loaded JUMP bikes to Lime while taking a stake in the company. Aurora and Uber didn’t disclose a total price tag for the deal.

Self-driving is notoriously expensive when it comes to research and development. In 2019, Uber’s ATG brought in $42 million of revenue, but ultimately contributed to about $500 million of EBITDA losses. Uber also turned to outside investors last year to shore up the unit’s finances, selling a $1 billion stake to Toyota, SoftBank and others.

“Few technologies hold as much promise to improve people’s lives with safe, accessible, and environmentally friendly transportation as self-driving vehicles,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who is joining Aurora’s board as part of the acquisition, said in a press release.

“For the last five years, our phenomenal team at ATG has been at the forefront of this effort – and in joining forces with Aurora, they are now in pole position to deliver on that promise even faster,” he continued.

Read more: Uber ATG has been hobbled by a deadly crash, infighting, and balky tech - and investors are losing patience with the self-driving division

Uber has also been in unconfirmed talks to sell Elevate, its flying taxi project, to Joby Aviation in a separate deal, Axios reported last week.

Uber shelled out heavily to branch into new markets during the pandemic amid its disastrous effect on Uber's core ride-hailing business. It bought Postmates this year in a deal worth $2.65 billion, and Latin American grocery-delivery firm Cornershop.

Investors have applauded the moves, sending shares of Uber up more than 73% this year, surpassing its initial IPO trades to outperform benchmark market indices.