Uber says it’s doing better in markets where it has autonomous vehicles

It’s autonomous ride-sharing business is still very small.

11/4/25 9:40AM

On Uber’s earnings call today, the company said markets where it has autonomous vehicles are outperforming markets without them.

“The overall US market is strong, but we’re finding that, for example, growth in Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta was more than twice the rest of the US,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on the call Tuesday morning. He also noted that human driver earnings in those markets outpaced the rest of the US.

As of September, Google’s Waymo had more than 100 vehicles operating in Austin and “dozens” in Atlanta, where it’s partnered with Uber to offer Waymo rides exclusively through the Uber app. Waymo has more than 400 vehicles in Phoenix, where it has a partnership with Uber in which consumers can be matched with a Waymo vehicle, but Waymo primarily uses its own app there.

While he said it’s too early to tell how the AV business, which is not profitable, affects Uber’s business overall, Khosrowshahi said the relative growth is a “good signal.”

Uber said it expects to have autonomous vehicle deployments on its network in at least 10 cities by the end of next year.

Data earlier this year from ride-share comparison app Obi found that consumers were willing to pay more for autonomous rides, citing a notable preference by users of driverless car services to be in a car without a driver.

“I attribute higher demand for AVs to two reasons: a) novelty and ridership enthusiasm for a new experience and b) once consumers have taken rides it’s easy to see that the user experience in an AV is far superior,” Obi CEO Ashwini Anburajan told Sherwood News. “It provides privacy, comfort and safety, and all in a really nice car. The premiums in price are being supported by consumer enthusiasm.”

Millie Giles

FIREWALL

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Firefox will soon let users block AI features in its browser

As Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge ramp up AI offerings, Firefox is betting people will want an off switch.

Firefox, Firefox Focus, Safari and other Apps on iPhone screen

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Tesla and Google’s Waymo to Senate committee: Fix self-driving laws or China will win

Ahead of their appearances Wednesday at a Senate committee hearing on the future of self-driving, the two biggest names in the sector, Tesla and Google’s Waymo, are talking the same book.

Both companies are warning lawmakers that without a federal framework for autonomous vehicles — something Congress has debated for years and is now considering again as part of broader transportation legislation — China will seize the lead.

“The United States is locked in a global race with Chinese AV companies for the future of autonomous driving, a trillion-dollar industry comparable in strategic importance to flight and space travel,” Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña said in written remarks ahead of the event. “In the absence of US leadership on a national AV legislative framework, Chinese AV competitors will fill the gap and set the safety and technical standards for the rest of the world.”

Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy, for his part, wrote, “If the US does not lead in AV development, other nations — particularly China — will shape the technology, standards, and global market.” He added, “China will be the dominant manufacturer of transportation for the 21st century.”

The two companies face steep competition from Chinese firms, including Baidu, which operates a robotaxi service, and BYD, whose EVs offer driver assistance technology similar to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving and which has been outselling the US automaker.

Hit the Road, Mac: The Future of Self-Driving Cars

$126B

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Waymo is now worth $126 billion, after raising $16 billion in a funding round led by its parent company, Google. With this capital, Waymo plans to expand its robotaxi service to more than 20 new cities, including international markets.

On Wednesday, Waymo’s chief safety officer will testify at a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing, alongside a representative for Tesla, urging lawmakers to create a national regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles.

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Dan Ives thinks Tesla will someday merge with SpaceX, too

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives is just like us: he thinks that Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX could someday become one company.

In a note this morning, Ives argued there’s a “growing chance” Tesla will eventually merge in some form with newly merged SpaceX and xAI, as Musk builds what he sees as a single, sprawling AI ecosystem spanning both space and Earth.

Over time, Ives wrote, he thinks Musk will look to “combine forces/technologies,” with the long-term goal of owning and controlling more of the AI stack. Ives thinks Musk could achieve that “holy grail” over the next year and a half.

Earlier today, we pointed out the myriad similarities between Tesla and SpaceX — shared impossible missions, common methods for achieving those goals, and a physics-first, economics-later ethos — as well as Musk’s long-standing penchant for knitting his companies together in the first place.