Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has expressed cautious optimism about Tesla’s autonomous robotaxi ambitions, calling Elon Musk’s vision “pretty compelling” during a recent appearance on the Hard Fork tech podcast. The comments come as the ride-hailing giant navigates the rapidly evolving autonomous vehicle landscape, balancing partnerships while keeping options open for future collaborations.
Khosrowshahi’s remarks follow Tesla’s high-profile “We, Robot” event in October 2024, where Musk unveiled the Cybercab robotaxi prototype. While the unveiling left some industry veterans and Wall Street analysts underwhelmed, the Uber CEO acknowledged Tesla’s potential as either a competitor or partner, depending on the company’s strategic direction. Musk has promised Cybercab production before 2027.
The Uber chief outlined two possible scenarios: Tesla could develop its autonomous vehicle fleet and operate exclusively through its own app, making it a direct competitor, or it could choose to integrate with Uber’s platform as a partner. Khosrowshahi suggested that fleet owners seeking “maximum earnings” would naturally gravitate toward Uber’s established marketplace.
Despite his openness to Tesla, Khosrowshahi firmly backed Waymo as Uber’s primary autonomous vehicle partner. The companies formalized their partnership in 2023, bringing self-driving ride-hailing services to Phoenix customers. In September 2024, they announced expansion plans to Atlanta and Austin for 2025. This partnership marks a dramatic turnaround from their contentious past—Waymo and Uber were once locked in a bitter lawsuit over self-driving technology that ended with a $245 million settlement in 2018.
On the competitive dynamics between Waymo and Tesla, Khosrowshahi expressed confidence in his chosen partner: “I think Elon eventually will get to a viable scale, but for the next five years, I bet on Waymo, and we are betting on Waymo,” he stated. This assessment contrasts with perspectives from AI experts like Andrej Karpathy, OpenAI founding team member and former Tesla AI director, who suggested Tesla has an advantage because it faces a software problem while Waymo confronts a hardware challenge—the former being easier to solve.
Khosrowshahi countered this argument, noting that “hardware costs scale down over a period of time” and that Waymo can solve its hardware challenges. Uber’s own autonomous vehicle journey has been turbulent—the company created its Advanced Technologies Group but sold it to Aurora in 2020 following setbacks, including a fatal crash in 2018.
Key Quotes
Well, they certainly could be, right? If they develop their own AV vehicle and they decide to go direct only through the Tesla app, they would be a competitor. If they decide to work with us, then we would be a partner as well.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi responded to questions about whether Tesla represents a competitive threat following the Cybercab unveiling. His statement reveals Uber’s flexible strategy of remaining open to collaboration while preparing for potential competition in the autonomous vehicle market.
You might have these cyber shepherds or these owners of these fleets. Those owners, if they want to have maximum earnings on those fleets, will want to put those fleets on Uber.
Khosrowshahi outlined his vision for how Tesla’s robotaxis could integrate with Uber’s platform, suggesting that economic incentives would naturally drive fleet owners toward Uber’s established marketplace rather than operating independently.
I think Elon eventually will get to a viable scale, but for the next five years, I bet on Waymo, and we are betting on Waymo.
The Uber CEO expressed confidence in Waymo’s near-term prospects over Tesla’s autonomous vehicle ambitions, indicating where Uber is placing its strategic bets in the AI-powered transportation race despite acknowledging Tesla’s long-term potential.
I think that hardware costs scale down over a period of time. So, sure, Waymo has a hardware problem, but they can solve it.
Khosrowshahi countered arguments from AI experts like Andrej Karpathy who suggested Waymo’s hardware-intensive approach represents a disadvantage compared to Tesla’s software-focused strategy, demonstrating his confidence in Waymo’s technological trajectory.
Our Take
Khosrowshahi’s diplomatic stance reveals the delicate balancing act facing platform companies in the AI era. Rather than building proprietary autonomous technology after its failed attempt, Uber has pivoted to becoming the marketplace for others’ AI innovations—a potentially brilliant strategy that avoids massive R&D costs while maintaining relevance.
The five-year timeline Khosrowshahi mentions is particularly telling. It suggests industry insiders expect meaningful autonomous vehicle deployment within this decade, not the distant future. His willingness to hedge bets by remaining open to Tesla while backing Waymo demonstrates sophisticated risk management in an uncertain technological landscape.
Most intriguingly, the “cyber shepherds” concept hints at a future where AI-powered vehicles operate in a gig economy model—individual or small fleet owners managing autonomous vehicles through platforms like Uber. This could democratize autonomous vehicle ownership while preserving Uber’s platform dominance, representing a fascinating evolution of both AI technology and business models.
Why This Matters
This development signals a critical inflection point in the autonomous vehicle industry, where established ride-hailing platforms must navigate relationships with competing self-driving technology providers. Uber’s strategic positioning reveals how traditional transportation companies are adapting to AI-driven disruption rather than fighting it.
The competition between Tesla’s vision-based AI approach and Waymo’s sensor-heavy system represents two fundamentally different philosophies for achieving autonomous driving. Khosrowshahi’s five-year bet on Waymo suggests the industry remains divided on which technological path will succeed first, with significant implications for AI development strategies across the automotive sector.
For workers and society, the expansion of autonomous ride-hailing services into major cities like Atlanta and Austin in 2025 foreshadows accelerating changes to transportation employment and urban mobility. The outcome of this competition will determine whether autonomous vehicles emerge through centralized platforms like Uber or through manufacturer-controlled fleets, fundamentally reshaping the gig economy and professional driving professions. The integration of AI-powered autonomous vehicles into mainstream transportation represents one of artificial intelligence’s most visible and impactful real-world applications.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-ceo-calls-elon-musk-robotaxi-vision-compelling-2024-10