Nuro, which has operated driverless vehicles in Palo Alto, announced Rajiv Bhatia as its chief product officer Thursday, Oct. 15, as the Mountain View company prepares for a Bay Area robotaxi launch with Lucid and Uber.
The company identified Palo Alto as one of its driverless operating locations in a November 2024 update. Nuro’s robotaxi announcement does not specify whether the initial service area will include Palo Alto.
Bhatia will oversee product strategy for the Nuro Driver, the self-driving system behind the company’s vehicle programs, according to Nuro’s appointment announcement.
"As Nuro moves into a period of meaningful commercial expansion, Rajiv's experience will be invaluable," co-founder and co-CEO Jiajun Zhu said in the announcement.
Nuro said it plans to develop products for commercial fleets, consumer-facing transportation networks and personal vehicles under his leadership.
The hire is the company's second C-suite appointment in five months. Nuro named Mike Mancini as chief financial officer in May, ending a vacancy of about 32 months in that role, Eletric Vehicles reported. Co-founder Dave Ferguson was elevated from president to co-CEO in October 2025.
Bay Area robotaxi launch ahead
Bhatia arrives at a busy time. Nuro is building the self-driving system for a robotaxi program with Lucid and Uber that the companies plan to launch first in the Bay Area. The partnership calls for a minimum of 35,000 vehicles globally across dozens of markets over the coming years, according to the press release.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) lists Nuro’s Lucid Gravity SUV as authorized for tests without a safety driver in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties at up to 45 mph, according to DMV permit records. Nuro also announced a California Public Utilities Commission permit on May 8 for a passenger pilot with safety drivers, Eletric Vehicles reported.
Nuro said on Thursday, Oct. 8, that the program had entered its production validation phase over the summer, according to Eletric Vehicles. The outlet reported Oct. 15 that the partners were targeting a Bay Area launch by the end of 2026 but had not announced a specific date.
The company shifted in 2024 from building its own delivery vehicles to licensing the Nuro Driver platform, according to Eletric Vehicles. Nuro raised $203 million in a 2025 funding round at a $6 billion valuation, with Uber and Nvidia among the investors, according to TechCrunch. That was below the $8.6 billion at which Nuro raised $600 million in 2021.
