According to Uber, Tesla’s autonomous taxi is not for tomorrow!

Tesla has postponed the presentation of its shared autonomous Robotaxi to October. A new model that doesn’t seem to scare Uber.

During an appearance on the very popular Logan Bartlett Show on YouTube, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi did not spare any words in criticizing Tesla’s Robotaxi projects. More than the still nascent technology, it’s the very concept of shared autonomous vehicles that leaves him doubtful. While Uber has just established solid business ties with the Chinese giant BYD, that is not very surprising, but the argument holds.

Totally going against Elon Musk’s deep convictions, he does not believe society is ready to fully embrace autonomous vehicles. Arguing quite brilliantly, he sets a psychological threshold regarding entrusting one’s physical integrity to a machine, even if the machine claims to be safer on the road than a human driver.

“Logic would suggest that if robots are twice as good at driving, or even three times better than humans, that would be good for society in the future,” acknowledges Khosrowshahi. “But honestly, I don’t know if society is ready to accept that.”

But in case Uber does not close the door

Tesla is not the only player in the sights of the fiery CEO. Other companies like Waymo and Cruise are working on their own driverless ride-sharing solutions, with the former already offering commercial rides in certain heavily regulated areas in the United States. Nevertheless, Uber is not ready to blindly leap into the driverless ride-hailing sector.

But a successful entrepreneur is above all a visionary, and unsurprisingly, Dara Khosrowshahi points out that it might be interesting for Tesla to partner with ride-sharing services in the future rather than develop their own… and who better than Uber for that? Just in case Tesla’s technology proves viable, it would be a shame not to have a finger on the button to launch the autonomous taxi printing press.

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