Signals the end of the self driving delusion, at least for 10-20 years.
Nah, companies on the brink of collapse will keep saying cruise control is self driving. Companies with a foundation keep calling it cruise control.
All about risk.
Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B
111–120 of 376 posts
Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B
#112Is it possible that just having an app doesn't make you a tech company? Anyone else ready to think Uber might just be an overvalued taxi company?
the definition of 'tech' has been hollowed out for a while. Almost all software 'tech' companies are actually just market-makers or middlemen rather than actually driving deep process innovation that delivers extreme efficiency gains. Uber, Airbnb's etc.. model is basically regulatory arbitrage by externalising costs that taxi companies or hotels have to take on themselves to the detriment of workers and the environment.
Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B
#113Is it possible that just having an app doesn't make you a tech company? Anyone else ready to think Uber might just be an overvalued taxi company?
They are a logistics and pricing company. If they would license this tech they'd be rich beyond belief. They companies could really be Uber-for-X.
That's an interesting thought experiment.
At the high level, Amazon is also primarily a logistics and pricing company.
They could also license their tech (or white label it a la Shopify) and make a lot of money, but they realized at some point that owning the user relationship was key to unlocking more value than just owning the tech.
Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B
#114Wasn't Uber's whole money losing strategy based on the vision that one day they'll use their self-driving cars to get the driving done for cheaper?
Even if that were the case, selling your self-driving car unit might still make sense.
If you assume that self-driving cars eventually become a commodity, Uber and Lyft could just buy them rather than develop the tech in-house. The key strategic bit of the landscape to own would be the app that everyone uses to book them.
Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
Taxis have been around for thousands of years. Taxis that you get with a nice app seem like a thing that will always exist.
Why would they need Uber? There are hundreds of similar taxi apps
Hundreds? With Uber there's a car maybe 5-10 minutes away at all times, that's certainly not true with most of their competition.
Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not to mention, a ridiculously difficult problem that can't only be solved by technical breakthroughs, but also relies on legal and social advancements in order to see widespread adoption.
Ubers not been one to shy away from legal skirmishes though.
Even so, profitable self driving is binary; either there’s a human driver in the car or there isn’t. Uber is ”bold” but not bold enough to put thousands of self-driving cars on the road illegally.
Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B
#117I don't understand the current state of self driving cars. First we have tesla which already has a self driving car. They were the first to build one and now everyone is playing catch up, or are they? Waymo has been building something for a really long time too but I have no idea how close they are to an actual product. Now there is this new company that gets a bunch of money to build something. It feels to me like t…
Put down the kool aid. There are no self-driving cars.
I own a Tesla with FSD. Can confirm, there is no self driving car.
Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
That seems disingenuous and intended to save face. I liken this to the Soviets claiming they never lost the space race after the US moon landing because "landing humans was never the goal" and they denied ever building a lunar lander. I think the kids these days call it gaslighting. Statements from key executives at uber like Meyhofer who said “The ultimate north star for the company is Level 4 autonomy” are proof of…
Yeah the more I look the more I find proof that self-driving cars has been seen as an existential threat by Uber/Lyft for years and years with Travis Kalanick (ex-CEO) saying it repeatedly. Here's an interview from him on exactly this topic. https://www.businessinsider.com/travis-kalanick-interview-on...
Can't speak for Lyft leadership, but I think Travis and Dara have very different perspectives on self driving.
As for the existential threat narrative, consider that there are many places that sell cheaper/better food than McDonalds, and yet, McD is everywhere. I don't think technical merit alone is going to win the rideshare pie.
Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B
#119https://jperla.medium.com/tesla-saves-lives-waymo-gambles-pa...
Please don't spam your own medium posts.
Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B
#120Car companies doesn't make their own airbags, they buy them from Autoliv. They don't make their own brakes, they buy them from Brembo. They buy transmissions from ZF, tires from Michelin, ECUs from Bosch, etc. Why should car manufacturers develop their own self driving technology instead of letting others, like Bosch [1] or Veoneer [2], do that and buy it from them? Spread the investment over more cars, it makes sens…
because they have something tangible on their books producing value: the line for the cars.
without the self driving vertical promises, uber is a middleman with a booking app, and they're one squeeze away from tesla or waymo into irrelevance.