Over the past decade, Uber’s annual Lost & Found Index has offered a rather quirky anthropological snapshot of its riders and even some insights into society. Our annual catalog of millions of forgotten items ranges from everyday modern gadgets like smartphones and laptops to more recognizable objects like live fish, ankle monitors, toboggans, packages of live butterflies and single Louboutin shoes.
This year, Uber is using this report to highlight an old problem with lost items in a new way. It is a robot taxi. Uber said Tuesday that over the past year, thousands of items — too new for millions of people — have been left behind in robotaxi rides on the company’s ride-hailing network. There were a few items that fell into the usual suspect categories of cell phones, keys, wallets, passports and headphones, along with a set of dentures, an “I Heart Hot Dads” bag and a blue hat that said “Emotional Support Human.”
In addition to this fun list, there are some minor business opportunities. Even in future robot taxis, someone will have to return items left behind by passengers.
Uber has entered into dozens of partnerships with autonomous vehicle (AV) technology companies over the past few years. However, with the launch of ‘Uber’s Waymo’ robotaxi service in Austin in March 2025, the commercial wheels of the AV business started turning. Afterwards, Uber and Waymo also launched robotaxi services in Atlanta. Uber added other AV companies to its app last year, including Motional in Las Vegas and Avride in Dallas, but it still has human safety operators behind the wheel.
The fact that Uber has already recorded thousands of lost items in just 12 months gives some idea of how many robotaxi rides are completed on the Uber app. The basic message here is that Uber’s existing network is already set up to reunite riders with lost items, including a 15-pound yo-yo, a large black marble duck, and a Squishmallow and Charli XCX poster.
If an Uber rider forgets an item in the robotaxi, the process to retrieve it is similar to any other Uber ride. That is, open the app, click on the Activity tab, select the trip you lost your item on, and then contact customer support. Riders can then message, chat, or call a support representative. If you have an item, you have two options: Pay $15 to an Uber courier to provide same-day local delivery, or pick up your belongings directly from the AV warehouse where your vehicle is stored and serviced.
Uber Courier is a brand of Uber Connect that launched in 2020 and allowed users to send packages and personal items between local addresses. But Uber says there’s more to its robotaxi support network than repurposing existing services.
“With tens of millions of lost items reported on Uber every year, we’ve invested over the past decade to build systems that help riders quickly and seamlessly find their belongings,” Amy Satrom, Uber’s global head of autonomy, said in a statement. “As autonomous driving continues to expand at Uber, we’re applying the same expertise to AV by combining our fleet operations, support teams, and hybrid network to make it easy to find lost items even when there’s no driver in the driver’s seat.”
Last February, the company announced Uber Autonomous Solutions, a new business unit that delivers on its larger ambitions for driverless technology. The division provides businesses with a suite of services, including software and support services, that handle all tasks associated with running a robotaxi, self-driving truck or sidewalk delivery robot business.
And Uber clearly means making AV a major revenue stream. The company said it plans to offer robotaxi rides through its app in up to 15 cities around the world by the end of the year, and plans to become the world’s largest AV travel facilitator by 2029.
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