Uber’s self-driving vehicle strategy: Slowing down adoption

A decade ago, Travis Kalanick, then-CEO of Uber, said he saw that Autonomous vehicles As an existential threat to the passenger carrier’s business model.

“What happens if we’re not part of this future? If we’re not part of self-government? The future will pass us by,” Kalanick said. Business insider.

In the years that followed, Uber It has settled on a strategy of building and running its own strategy rather than seeing it Self-driving carsputs it on track to become the place where passengers can connect with any ride piloted by a human or robot. “We believe there will be many autonomous vehicle operators around the world, and we want to be the commerce platform of choice for all of them,” Dara Khosrowshahi, current CEO, told investors in 2024. Since then, the company has It has signed agreements with more than 25 major players in the field of roboticswith self-driving vehicles from Waymo, Nuro, Baidu and Volkswagen’s MOIA available or soon to be available on the Uber app in many global cities.

Now, according to documents seen by WIRED and others obtained through a public records request, Uber lobbyists are seeking to turn that strategy into law. Company representatives have pressed lawmakers to deploy self-driving vehicles on what it calls “hybrid networks,” where human drivers work alongside robots as new technology grows.

In New Jersey, a lobbyist representing Uber took this strategy a step further, circulating legislative language that would, for three years, require any driverless ride-hailing platform to have human drivers serve 85% of its trips.

The language would likely prevent developers of self-driving vehicles, including Waymo, Zooxand Teslaare unable to operate their own ride-hailing apps in the state — effectively forcing them to use another ride-hailing app if they hope to enter the market and limit competition for Uber, the nation’s leading ride-hailing company.

An Uber representative showed a copy of the proposal to New Jersey Sen. Andrew Zwicker, according to his chief of staff, Ayla Rios. Zwicker is a sponsor of invoice Currently being considered by the state legislature would create New Jersey’s first set of rules governing self-driving cars on public roads. Language proposed by Uber lobbyists that would restrict autonomous taxi-hailing apps is not currently part of the bill, which could come to a vote this fall.

The New Jersey bill is the first proposed in the country that would limit the operation of Tesla’s robotaxis, because it would require autonomous vehicle developers to… Use multiple sensors to run its softwareand not just cameras, as Tesla technology does. It would also require vehicles to be operated in emergency situations using steering wheels and brake pedals, which purpose-built robo-taxis such as those produced by Zoox do not have.

In Washington, D.C., where self-driving vehicle developers, including Waymo, are engaged in A FierceWith the months-long battle to allow robo-taxi services to operate in the region, Uber representatives have also sought to ensure that “hybrid networks” are the future of ride-hailing services.

A bill introduced by City Councilman Charles Allen in April would allow driverless services on D.C.’s public roads under certain conditions. In an email sent more than a week before the legislation was introduced and obtained by WIRED through a public records request, Uber lobbyist LáVita Gardner thanked an Allen staffer for her commitment to allowing ride-hailing companies like Uber to participate in the region’s autonomous vehicle program. “Allowing hybrid networks will be critical to a smooth transition that supports both technology and human motivations,” Gardner wrote. (The D.C. bill will be the subject of a hearing Monday, and has not yet come up for a vote.)