Uber's robotaxi partnership with Waymo is going through a rough patch
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What is the daily Tech and Business Report covering in this episode?
It's time now for our daily tech and business report. Uber's Robo Taxi partnership with Waymo is lagged, and it's creating some anxiety in the market. For more, return now to the KCBS Ring Central Newsline to speak with Bloomberg's Jordan Fitzgerald. Thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. Thank you for having me, Marty. Absolutely. So what do we know about Uber and Waymo's partnership in the Brovo Taxi Sector?
Yeah, so over recent weeks, Uber and Waymo, which have been partners since twenty twenty three, have been going through a rough patch. Um the original partnership was made because Uber's intention is to be an aggregator for robo taxis. Essentially they can say to all of these small autonomous driving companies put your cars on Uber, we have customers already. But and and that works for Waymo for a while, but at this point, Uber's signing with so many of its competitors while also lobbying against self driving apps being able to exclusively offer self driving and not hybrid models as well, that that prospectus has changed for Waymo and so they've indicated that they're interested in ending their current exclusive partnership with Uber.
And, you know, that Not a complete death. Now they could re-sign a non exclusive deal soon, but when Waymo, which is really the leader in the space of autonomous driving, is turning away from Uber, it does pose poke some holes in Uber's long term strategy of being this Robotaxi aggregator.
So who is Uber gravitating towards? Uber es
Why is Uber’s robotaxi partnership with Waymo experiencing a rough patch?
being pretty broad in its appeals. Um basically if a company has shown that it can do self driving and and produce products on that front, it's interested in in working with them. It over has over a dozen partnerships on this front. Um it's not just Wimo. It's Zooks, which is owned by Amazon, it's We Ride, it's Lucid and private robo company Neuro. They've they've you know, got works with NVIDIA. They're kind of doing a putting all their eggs in as many baskets as possible strategy. Um and they've told investors that like this is their future. Um if if investors are concerned that RoboTaxis might render U Uber obsolete, that's not going to happen because all of the Robotaxis are going to flow through Uber.
But when the leader in the space is saying we might actually need Uber, that proposition is much more tenuous.
That that is interesting. So um aside me it it's definitely going in that direction, but at at the moment with ride hailing and delivery, how is Uber doing?
How is Uber shifting its robotaxi strategy by partnering with multiple autonomous companies?
Uber
is
doing well. Um,
they've uh outperformed on on gross bookings, which is one of the most important important metrics for the company. That's just how many people have ordered Ubers for delivery or for rides uh for the past four or so quarters and investors and analysts are expecting them to do solidly again. The question what isn't whether Uber's core business, this this current calling an Uber getting Uber Eats business that that we all know it as, it's not whether that is doing well, it's whether th those businesses are good enough to see the stock growth that at least in the near term that Uber saw in the past.
Um back to Wiimo and Uber, I'm just wondering at the sustainability of a partnership where both companies are um increasingly viewing each other then as long term rivals.
There's a bit of a frenemy situation going on between Uber and Waymo. They definitely have muted each other in the past and have worked well together in the past, but that's not currently adding enough of a value to Waymo to stick with an exclusive partnership with Uber.
How would revenue be split if this happens?
Uber's Uber's revenues are Currently derived they currently derive much more from the traditional ride hailing and the and the traditional delivery services. Uber Sleet, um, we do have to understand that for now still stands at, you know, millions of of transactions, uh whereas Waymo has just three thous uh over three thousand vehicles operating in ten or so US cities. So the revenue question is not one we've gotten to yet. Um the question really is
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the daily Tech and Business Report covering in this episode?
0:00–1:31
2
Why is Uber’s robotaxi partnership with Waymo experiencing a rough patch?
1:31–2:35
3
How is Uber shifting its robotaxi strategy by partnering with multiple autonomous companies?
2:35–4:24
4
How is Uber’s ride‑hailing and delivery business performing amid the robotaxi turmoil?
4:24–5:39
5
What would a revenue split look like if Uber and Waymo end their exclusive deal?
5:39–6:27
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from KCBS Bloomberg Tech and Business Report
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