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Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B

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Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B

#41

Post by jeromegv »

dgrin91 wrote: post #30
necubi wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that was never the strategy, no matter how many times people on HN claimed it was. Both Uber and Lyft are aiming for profitability next year with human drivers. (Disclaimer, I work for Lyft but this has been said in public many, many times by both companies.)

Can you point to some sources to back that up? I have always been under the impression that self driving was the end goal that they were all working towards.

Everytime someone mentioned that idea I thought it made no sense. The Uber strategy is to delegate all the cost to a 3rd party (the driver and their own car). The idea of spending billions of dollar on hundreds of thousands of cars around the world and maintain them hardly seemed like what they were setup to do. They wanted the exact opposite. Externalize all cost, labor, material, etc. and just develop a software that generates them a % of profit. This would be an entire 180° in terms of business strategy.

Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B

#42

Post by yumraj »

necubi wrote: post #17
thesimon wrote: post #6

Wasn'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?

No, that was never the strategy, no matter how many times people on HN claimed it was. Both Uber and Lyft are aiming for profitability next year with human drivers. (Disclaimer, I work for Lyft but this has been said in public many, many times by both companies.)

It may not be the strategy, but it is definitely the only reasonable path to profitability where the drivers will make at least a reasonable income and the cost of a ride is competitive with a cab.

Either ways, next year is pretty close. Perhaps I'd be proven wrong.

Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B

#44

Post by ghaff »

DonnyV wrote: post #25

I'd be shocked if Uber is around in the next 5 years.

I'm not sure why they wouldn't necessarily be around. They increasingly raise prices to sustainable levels and maintain some share of the gig economy taxi and delivery business with pretty good brand recognition. Becomes a much more mature, lower margin, steady-state business--presumably with a whole lot less SV engineering.

Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B

#45

Post by aardvarkr »

aardvarkr wrote: post #39
necubi wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that was never the strategy, no matter how many times people on HN claimed it was. Both Uber and Lyft are aiming for profitability next year with human drivers. (Disclaimer, I work for Lyft but this has been said in public many, many times by both companies.)

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...

Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B

#46

Post by metiscus »

jeromegv wrote: post #41
dgrin91 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you point to some sources to back that up? I have always been under the impression that self driving was the end goal that they were all working towards.

Everytime someone mentioned that idea I thought it made no sense. The Uber strategy is to delegate all the cost to a 3rd party (the driver and their own car). The idea of spending billions of dollar on hundreds of thousands of cars around the world and maintain them hardly seemed like what they were setup to do. They wanted the exact opposite. Externalize all cost, labor, material, etc. and just develop a software th…

So if they invent the first reasonable self-driving car, they can sell those and provide service for them. Ideally TCO would be lower than a human driven car so basically a third party could buy and manage the fleet for Uber and Lyft. Neither company would need to own the cars to reap the benefits of making them.

Re: Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B

#47

Post by dboreham »

mkoryak wrote: post #33

I 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.
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