Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber, recently discussed various topics with Stratechery ranging from his time before assuming the CEO position at Uber to his perspective on autonomous driving cars. Uber has canceled the development and research in this area within the company and has opted to collaborate with other companies instead.
Khosrowshahi responded to questions regarding Tesla’s preparation to offer Robotaxi services, stating that no one wants to directly compete with Tesla due to its high potential. However, what Uber plans to do is to partner and cooperate, as they currently have hundreds of Tesla cars within their system. These drivers can easily switch the cars to autonomous mode within the Uber app, enabling immediate service. Collaboration always yields better value than individual efforts.
He exemplified this situation as similar to McDonald’s and the Uber Eats platform. McDonald’s has its app with a self-ordering and delivery system but also partners with the Uber Eats platform. All these efforts aim to maximize market opportunities. Uber intends to do the same in the Robotaxi market.
Currently, Uber has the option to utilize autonomous cars in some cities through partnerships with Waymo and Cruise, both of which have their own apps for car hailing.
In the recent quarterly report of Uber, Khosrowshahi mentioned that autonomous cars are a massive opportunity for the taxi-hailing service, estimating a trillion-dollar opportunity in the United States alone.
TLDR: CEO Dara Khosrowshahi discusses Uber’s shift towards collaboration in the autonomous driving sector and the potential trillion-dollar market it presents in the taxi-hailing industry.
Leave a Comment