Uber's Ceo Says Drivers Have About 10 Years Left Before They Will Be Replaced

Rideshare driving was nan most-searched broadside hustle past year, garnering astir 31,000 monthly Google searches, per a Creative Fabrica study. More than 7 cardinal group thrust aliases present pinch Uber unsocial each month.

However, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said successful an mobility and reply connected Friday that driving for Uber is only a safe gig for nan adjacent decade. After that, autonomous vehicles, aliases cars that thrust themselves, will return complete nan aforesaid routes humans thrust today.

"You accelerated guardant 15, 20 years, I deliberation that nan autonomous driver is going to beryllium a amended driver than nan value driver," Khosrowshahi told nan Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern astatine WSJ Journal House Davos. "They will personification trained connected lifetimes of driving that nary personification can, they're not going to beryllium distracted."

Khosrowshahi pointed retired that complete a cardinal car fatalities hap per twelvemonth and that self-driving cars could make for safer trips.

Related: Traffic Jam Caused by Self-Driving Cars successful San Francisco Sparks Outcry and Safety Concerns

"I deliberation nan value displacement here, while it's not point that is going to hap tomorrow, is going to hap eventually," he said. "And it's point we personification to deliberation about, 9 has to deliberation about."

According to researchers astatine nan University of Central California who put together accusation from 2,100 accidents involving autonomous vehicles and 35,000 accidents involving value drivers, autonomous vehicles mostly show overmuch accusation than human-operated vehicles successful astir scenarios. However, self-driving cars personification 5 times nan consequence of getting into accidents erstwhile operating astatine dawn and dusk erstwhile compared to human-driven cars.

Khosrowshahi acknowledged nan drawbacks of autonomous vehicles arsenic they are today, stating that they presently personification constricted areas of origination, destination, and wide areas of operation. The upfront costs, including nan costs of mapping routes, are expensive, and nan hardware isn't arsenic precocious arsenic it needs to beryllium for wide adoption.

Autonomous vehicles aren't going to return complete each astatine once, but alternatively are going to commencement by augmenting what humans tin do complete nan adjacent decade, he said. They are going to commencement by taking complete nan easier routes.

Related: Waymo's Driverless Robotaxi Fleet Is Making 50,000 Trips Per Week — Here's Where nan Cars Are Headed Next

"I deliberation for nan adjacent 10 years you're going to personification hybrid networks of humans and machines," Khosrowshahi said.

What autonomous vehicles mean for Uber drivers

Khosrowshahi said autonomous vehicles are making nan institution rethink really Uber earners tin make money.

Uber started pinch driving services and expanded to nutrient deliveries and shopping. Now, there's a group labeling maps and different group helping AI companies create their algorithms. All of these coming caller ways for Uber drivers to summation income.

"We are making investments successful creating replacement methods of making money for our earner base," Khosrowshahi said, adding that he wasn't judge which will get location faster — Uber successful position of opportunity aliases autonomous vehicles successful position of business replacement.

According to Uber's latest nett study for nan 3rd 4th of 2024, released successful precocious October, nan institution had 161 cardinal monthly progressive level users. Drivers and couriers earned $18.1 cardinal including tips during nan quarter, a 14% year-over-year increase.