Nebius Group, a neocloud provider that received a $2 billion investment from NVIDIA in March 2026, is emerging as a major player in autonomous robotics through its subsidiary Avride, which has already shipped over 500,000 delivery robots and is expanding rapidly into new cities and college campuses. While most attention in the autonomous vehicle space focuses on robotaxis and self-driving cars, Nebius is building a parallel business in delivery robots that is growing far faster and with less regulatory scrutiny than its ride-hailing counterpart.

The NVIDIA investment was designed to accelerate Nebius' data center and artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout, but the company's autonomous robotics division represents a largely overlooked growth opportunity. Avride, which is backed by both Uber and Nebius, generated $375 million in combined investment last year and is now executing on a market that could be worth $7.6 billion by 2034, according to Fortune Business Insights.

What Makes Delivery Robots More Attractive Than Robotaxis Right Now?

The robotaxi market has captured headlines and venture capital, with Goldman Sachs projecting it could reach $48 billion in revenue by 2035. However, robotaxis face intense regulatory scrutiny and safety challenges. Avride's self-driving cars were involved in 16 accidents during the first three months of 2026 in Dallas and Austin, triggering a federal investigation. Competitor Waymo reported 69 incidents in the same cities during the same period, illustrating how early-stage and unpredictable the technology remains.

Delivery robots, by contrast, operate at much lower speeds, navigate sidewalks rather than highways, and face fewer regulatory barriers. Avride's robot deliveries increased 178 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2026 to 174,000 units, demonstrating real commercial traction. The company has shipped more than half a million robots since launching deliveries in April 2025, and it is expanding into additional cities and college campuses with support from Uber Eats, which uses Avride's robots for food delivery.

How Is Nebius Positioning Itself in the Broader Autonomous Robotics Market?

• Data Center Infrastructure: Nebius' core AI cloud business generated $390 million in revenue in Q1 2026, growing 841 percent year over year, powered by aggressive expansion of data center capacity to support AI workloads and inference tasks.
• Robotics and Delivery: Avride operates as Nebius' autonomous vehicle and robotics subsidiary, targeting both the robotaxi market and the high-growth delivery robot segment with Uber as a strategic commercial partner.
• Education Technology: TripleTen, Nebius' edtech venture, represents a third revenue stream, though it generated only $9 million in Q1 alongside Avride's contributions.

Nebius ended 2025 with 170 megawatts of active data center capacity and expects to reach 800 megawatts to 1 gigawatt by the end of 2026, with over 4 gigawatts of contracted capacity planned. This infrastructure expansion is critical for training and running the AI models that power both its cloud services and Avride's autonomous systems. The company's ability to scale data center power directly enables faster iteration on its robotics software and algorithms.

The delivery robot market represents a secular growth opportunity that is less crowded than robotaxis. Fortune Business Insights estimates the market could expand from $686 million in 2026 to $7.6 billion in 2034, a roughly 11-fold increase. Avride is already capturing meaningful market share by shipping over 500,000 units and expanding partnerships with Uber Eats, positioning it to benefit from this growth trajectory as adoption accelerates across more cities and use cases.

Why Investors Should Watch This Convergence of AI Infrastructure and Robotics

Nebius' dual strategy of building AI infrastructure while simultaneously developing autonomous robotics creates a powerful feedback loop. The company's data centers provide the computational foundation for training and deploying Avride's autonomous systems, while Avride generates real-world operational data that improves those systems over time. This vertical integration is rare in the autonomous vehicle space and could give Nebius a competitive advantage as the market matures.

The company's Q1 2026 revenue jumped nearly 8 times year over year to $399 million, driven primarily by its AI cloud business, but the delivery robot segment is growing even faster in percentage terms. If Avride continues its 178 percent year-over-year growth rate and the delivery robot market expands as projected, this business could become a significant revenue contributor within three to five years. Meanwhile, Nebius' contracted data center capacity of over 4 gigawatts suggests the company is preparing for substantial future scaling, indicating management confidence in both its AI infrastructure and robotics divisions.

The autonomous vehicle industry remains fragmented, with multiple players pursuing different strategies. Waymo focuses on robotaxis, Tesla emphasizes full self-driving for consumer vehicles, and Mobileye operates as a supplier of autonomous driving systems. Nebius' approach of combining AI infrastructure with robotics operations positions it as a different kind of competitor, one that controls both the computational backbone and the autonomous systems themselves. As the market matures and consolidation accelerates, this integrated model could prove increasingly valuable.