Uber is teaming up with Toyota to build self-driving cars for its ride-hailing service after its efforts to do it alone were derailed by allegations of theft and a fatal collision.
Toyota is also investing $US500 million ($A682 million) in Uber as part of an alliance announced on Monday.
The deal aims to combine the best features from the two companies' work on autonomous vehicles into cars that will be picking up Uber riders in 2021.
Uber is turning to Toyota for help in autonomous vehicles five months after one of its self-driving cars ran over and killed a pedestrian crossing a dark street in Tempe, Arizona.
Uber's expansion into self-driving cars suffered another setback last year when a Google spin-off accused it of stealing its technology. Uber paid $US245 million to settle that case.
Technology from both companies will be integrated into purpose-built Toyota vehicles and deployed on Uber's ride-sharing platform, with the first pilot rollout set for 2021.
"The deal is the first of its kind for Uber and signals our commitment to bringing world-class technologies to the Uber network," said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Last month, the San-Francisco-based firm took a tentative step toward restarting the self-drive program, putting self-driving cars back on the road in "manual mode," with a driver at the wheel at all times.
The testing will enable Uber to gather data on different scenarios that will be recreated in computer simulations, and also develop more accurate mapping for the vehicles.
Uber is among a number of technology and car companies racing toward what some say is an inevitable future in which vehicles drive themselves.
The statement said the "mass-produced autonomous vehicles" would be owned and operated by "mutually agreed-upon third-party autonomous fleet operators."
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