Uber drivers actually participate with robot competitors – it may be about to change their jobs forever.
Although human drivers will remain in their riding businesses, they will soon face a dangerous competition from self -driving taxis in the city’s centers.
“I am almost sure that there will be more Uber drivers within 10 years, not less, because I think the world will move from individual car ownership to mobility as a service,” said McDonald, who was speaking during the future of the Financial Car Conference.
He added: “You will continue to see that the pie is growing. But it will look different. You will have an urban nuclei where a large percentage of trips are served by independent vehicles. For some, he will feel a very sudden change.”
Uber has concluded multiple deals with Robotaxi companies to host their independent cars on their application during the past year.
The riding giant currently allows users to fulfill Waymo vehicles in Austin and Vinix, with Atlanta appointed later this year.
CEO Dara Josesarhi praised the launch of Austin as a great success in Uber’s profit call, and analysts told that Robotaki and Emo in Austin were more preoccupied than “99 %” of her human drivers.
Uber has partnered with many companies that run on robotics, most notably Waymo.
And emo
Uber Al-Adwani pushed the self-leadership-who also witnessed deals with Volkswagen, Wayev, and Chinese companies Viraid and Brown-came at a time when its drivers express their increasing concern about the impact of taxis without a driver on their livelihoods.
Uber drivers in Phoenix previously told Business Insider that their profits are already hurt by the competition from Waymo, where some said they intend to avoid short -distanced city center flights in favor of the most profitable airport capacities.
McDonald said he did not believe that the growth of the robotics industry had an impact on driver’s profits or opportunities so far.
However, he added that he expected drivers to start feeling influencing soon in cities where robots become common, such as Austin, Los Angeles, and parts of China.
McDonald said Uber was following a “hybrid market” with a mixture of human drivers and robots who deal with different types of roads.
“You can get an independent car on the Uber platform in Austin today, we are available in 37 square miles,” he said.
He added: “If you are outside that area, you can get a human driver. If you are moving from inside that area abroad, you can get a human driver. If you go to the airport or on highways at the present time, it will take a human driver. There is a lot of value for this hybrid.”
McDonald said that some of these trips “will move more independently over time”, but this shift will create “other chances” for Uber drivers.
While independent vehicles are often limited to city centers and urban areas at the present time, Waymo is awaiting approval to submit airport transport and reception in multiple cities, and she said it is so Robots test in highways.
Nevertheless, Uber CEO believes that there will be some situations that can only be dealt with by human drivers, such as harsh weather attacks such as snowstorms or hengerous storms.
“Even if it is an independent vehicle it can handle 99 % of the weather, there are 1 % of cases that these cars may need to withdraw from,” said McDonald.
He added: “When you run a fleet consisting of 400 vehicles in the city, and they all have to withdraw once, what happens to serve you in riding? For us, we send a group of people to capture you.”
Uber immediately did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
