Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, believes Tesla and Uber can co-exist in the autonomous driving sphere, which is unlikely to experience "winner takes all" dynamics, given the size of the emerging market opportunity.
For the benefit of those who might not be aware, Uber sold its self-driving unit to Aurora in 2020, taking a stake in the autonomous truck-focused startup in return.
In 2021, Uber partnered with Motional, a JV between Aptiv and Hyundai that is working on autonomous mobility solutions, where Motional's all-electric IONIQ 5 robotaxis operate on the Uber network.
More recently, Uber inked a partnership agreement with Nuro and Lucid Group, where the former's autonomy stack would be deployed on EVs sourced from the latter, with the resulting robotaxi service operating on Uber's network.
Of course, Tesla has just launched its bespoke robotaxi service in a geofenced area of Austin, Texas, replete with an employee stationed in the front passenger seat and supported by a dedicated team of teleoperators, who are mandated to take over in case of an emergency. The EV giant has also initiated a manned ride-sharing service in the Bay Area, in lieu of specific robotaxi service permits.
This brings us to the core of today's topic. Khosrowshahi, while speaking on CNBC, has said that Uber and Tesla can either be partners or competitors in the robotaxi sphere, going on to opine that the segment will likely not witness "winner takes all" dynamics.
Of course, NVIDIA's example largely nullifies at least a part of this thesis, as the GPU maker currently commands the lion's share of the AI silicon segment, and is likely to remain the dominant player for the foreseeable future. So too might Tesla dominate the robotaxi sphere.
Bear in mind that the US rideshare market is valued at just around $58 billion right now, but is expected to swell to $336 billion by 2030. Goldman Sachs' Mark Delaney believes that robotaxis will be able to capture just $7 billion (or 8 percent of total bookings) of the 2030 pie.
Eventually, however, the sector may very well grow to represent a Total Addressable Market (TAM) worth trillions of dollars.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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