Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi Says He Isn't Worried About Tesla's Robotaxis – 'Transportation Is A Trillion-Plus-Dollar Industry'

Uber UBER CEO Dara Khosrowshahi pushed back against the idea of a single dominant player in the transportation sector, saying on April 25 that "there will not be a winner-take-all." 

At Semafor’s World Economy Summit, Khosrowshahi said the trillion-dollar industry is large enough to support multiple companies, including Tesla TSLA.

 “You could argue that rideshare is going to finally beat personal car ownership in a world where you’ve got robots driving all over the place,” Khosrowshahi said during a conversation with Semafor Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, suggesting that autonomous tech won’t crown a single winner.

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Transportation is a trillion-plus-dollar industry, and Khosrowshahi believes there is ample room for various players to innovate and prosper within this massive sector.

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Austin Becomes Ground Zero For The Robotaxi Wars

Uber is already gearing up for this transformation, partnering with Alphabet's GOOG GOOGL)) Waymo unit to roll out autonomous ride-hailing services in Austin, Texas and Atlanta.

Early this year, Uber users in Austin can now be matched with Waymo’s all-electric, fully autonomous Jaguar I-PACE vehicles for select rides, according to a joint statement. The fleet is expected to scale into the hundreds.

Meanwhile, Tesla TSLA is preparing its own move. During Tesla’s Q1 earnings call on April 23, Elon Musk said, “The team and I are laser-focused on bringing robotaxi to Austin in June. Unsupervised autonomy will first be solved for the Model Y in Austin.”

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The service will use Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software, which, while advanced, still requires occasional human takeover.

"It is delightful, but I have to take over every once in a while," Khosrowshahi said of Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature. "It is an absolutely great product. Again, the car is terrific,” he said, adding that he owns a Tesla himself.

Despite Khosrowshahi’s openness to collaboration—saying Uber would “love to work with” Tesla—Musk isn’t quite on the same wavelength. During the Q1 earnings call, he took a jab at Waymo’s higher production costs, saying the company’s robotaxis cost “way mo’ money.” 

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Former Waymo CEO John Krafcik told Business Insider, “Tesla has never competed with Waymo — they’ve never sold a robotaxi ride to a public rider, but they’ve sold a lot of cars.”

Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions will go head-to-head with Uber and Waymo in Austin. Though Tesla has not yet offered paid robotaxi rides, the company is aggressively promoting its upcoming June launch.

Meanwhile, Uber’s broader momentum continues. The company’s stock is up nearly 40% year-to-date, approaching record highs. Analysts attribute this surge to Uber’s push into autonomous vehicles and expanded delivery offerings, according to Investor’s Business Daily.

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