Uber’s Autonomous Vehicle Strategy: Slow Their Adoption
Uber is lobbying for legislation that would require autonomous vehicle companies to maintain a high percentage of human-driven rides on their platforms. Critics argue this strategy is designed to stifle competition from robotaxi developers by forcing them into Uber's ecosystem.
Why it matters
This reveals a strategic shift in the ride-hailing industry where established players are using regulatory capture to control the transition to autonomous transport.
“What would happen if we weren’t a part of that future? If we weren’t part of the autonomy thing? Then the future passes us by,” Kalanick told Business Insider.
In the years since, Uber has settled on a strategy that, rather than see it build and operate its own self-driving cars, puts it on track to become the place where riders can get connected with any ride, driven by a human or robot. “We think there are going to be many AV players around the world, and we want to be the go-to commercial platform for all of them,” now-CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told investors in 2024. Since then, the company has signed agreements with more than 25 major robotaxi players, with driverless vehicles from Waymo, Nuro, Baidu, and Volkswagen’s MOIA either available or soon to be available on the Uber app in several global cities.
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