Uber's Deal Blitz To Stop a Robotaxi Monopoly

Uber is aggressively partnering with multiple robotaxi companies to avoid a future dominated by Waymo or Tesla. The ride-hailing giant has struck deals with at least a dozen autonomous vehicle players in recent years. Just last week, it announced a $1.25 billion partnership with Rivian, with plans to deploy up to 50,000 driverless vehicles over the next decade. Business Insider reports: Uber announced three new robotaxi partnerships in the past few weeks with Zoox, Wayve-Nissan, and Rivian. In less than half a decade, the company has secured at least a dozen deals, including with WeRide, AVride, May Mobility, Momenta, Pony.AI, Wayve, Baidu's Apollo Go, Motional, and Lucid-Nuro. Still, less than a half-dozen of Uber's partners have deployed fully driverless, paid robotaxi operations, and only one, Waymo, operates in the US. Uber has a joint deployment with Waymo in Atlanta, Austin, and Phoenix, but in other cities, Waymo is a competitor.

Uber's partnership spree is less about seeking the singular, dominant player of autonomous driving. Instead, analysts told Business Insider that Uber is ensuring multiple vendors can participate in the expensive business of robotaxis -- fending off the real risk of a Waymo or Tesla scaling on its own -- and giving itself a stake in the robotaxi economy by being the aggregator of choice. "The more diversified the supplier base, the better for the network in the middle, which is Uber," Mark Mahaney, an Uber analyst for Evercore ISI, told Business Insider.

seriously?

[nomadic]

Waymo or Tesla? Waymo is so far ahead of Tesla that how can even the most gullible investor think they are every going to catch up?

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[Whateverthisis]

I remember when Tesla was a capital P Progressive brand. It's stunning how much the world has turned.

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[Mr. Dollar Ton]

The world is still the same, but elona got the subsidies and ran to the place where it doesn't need to pay taxes on the profits they generated.

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[mjwx]

The world is still the same, but elona got the subsidies and ran to the place where it doesn't need to pay taxes on the profits they generated.

Elnor and his companies were always like this, it's just that they aren't even pretending like they're hiding it any more.

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[Mr. Dollar Ton]

Yep. I never understood the fascination of people who think themselves smart with that creep.

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[Mr. Dollar Ton]

I'm not sure the kid was all that important, we know from some of his wives that he doesn't even know all of them well.

But having to pay back a part of what made him possible - oh, that was unconscionable to this great captain of industry.

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[nomadic]

The only human being Elon Musk cares about is himself. He is a profound narcissist.

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[Mr. Dollar Ton]

No argument from me on this point.

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[Whateverthisis]

I agree with you wholeheartedly, however if you're in Uber's position you can't afford to look at the now. The fact is, they attempted to build their own robotaxi and failed, which left them in the position of being a ride-hailer app only. That makes them vulnerable if there is only one player to provide automated taxi services. And so far, Waymo is really the only successful player in this. Tesla on the other hand, as much as I dislike the company has had naysayers against it for many years and while i

Musk has been promising FSD for 10 years!

[atrimtab]

Waymo has had it working for at least 3 years. What does Uber actually have fully working?

So I guess I won't be (and would not recommend anyone else) ride in a self-driving Uber soon.

Be the monopoly not be owned by one

[gurps_npc]

Uber wants to be the monopoly not be owned by one.

So they have multiple car companies, rather than be controlled by one car company

auto taxis need liability and not hide under an bi

[Joe_Dragon]

auto taxis need liability and not hide under an big list of subcontractors

Uber to roll out new combined service

[Anonymous Coward]

Today Uber announced a partnership with Tesla and Waymo to offer enhanced services to their combined customers. The new service, called "Jiffy Shit", is intended to combine the best and most useful parts of each service for the customer's ultimate convenience. Using the Uber app, clients will be able to order a robot-taxi ride and save time by plugging their ass into a receptacle embedded in the back seat. There they can relieve themselves, saving time and effort, making the most of their ride time. An opti

Even Uber is sometimes Waymo now

[BetterSense]

A few months ago when I was in Phoenix, when there was a high demand during some downtown ballgame, I requested an Uber through the Uber app in the usual way. After waiting longer than usual, instead of a normal Uber, a Waymo car showed up, sub-contracted THROUGH Uber. In other words, Uber hired a Waymo to fulfil my ride request.

I'm comfortable riding in Waymos, so I was OK with that (bonus IMO), but this could be annoying for people who are not comfortable riding in robotaxis, to have a robotaxi shoved at