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Uber (UBER) CEO Dara Khosrowshahi would rather work with Tesla (TSLA) than be its rival.
Khosrowshahi said the the emerging self-driving car market represents “an enormous, enormous long-term opportunity”— one potentially worth trillions, as Elon Musk’s Tesla prepares to roll out its own autonomous taxi service this year.
In an interview with analyst Ben Thompson for the Thursday edition of the Stratechery newsletter, Khosrowshahi was direct about Tesla’s strengths and weaknesses with autonomous vehicle technology.
“No one wants to compete against Tesla or Elon, if you can help it,” he said. “Their capabilities are pretty extraordinary.”
Musk said in January that a paid rideshare service akin to Uber and Lyft (LYFT) using Tesla’s robotaxis, the CyberCab, would launch in Austin around June. The service could compete directly with Uber’s own autonomous vehicle services, which currently rely on partnerships with companies like Waymo (GOOGL) and Wayve. But rather than go head-to-head, Khosrowshahi suggested Tesla and Uber could collaborate, like how McDonald’s and Uber Eats already do.
“McDonald’s has its own app, an incredible brand, and a lot of capital,” said Khosrowshahi. “But they still work with Uber Eats and DoorDash (DASH) because they want to drive utilization of the box called the restaurant. That same economic value is going to be true going forward.”
He also noted that 150,000 Uber drivers already use Teslas.
This isn’t the first time Uber has expressed interest in offering Tesla’s robotaxis through its platform, though a deal has yet been finalized.
“Ultimately, we’re hoping that my charm and the economic argument get Tesla to work with us as well,” Khosrowshahi said. “If they want a direct channel, no problem.”
Uber and Tesla aren’t alone in getting in the robotaxi business. Lyft chimed in with its own plans on Monday, Feb. 10, telling TechCrunch that it will bring its own robotaxi service to Dallas “as soon as 2026,” powered by Mobileye’s (INTC) autonomous-vehicle tech and financed by Japan’s Marubeni Corporation (MARUY).
- William Gavin and Harri Weber contributed to this article.