3 ms·
That the author even uses Uber as a rival to Weymo demonstrates their lack of awareness in the industry.
by drcross 9y ago
That the author even uses Uber as a rival to Weymo demonstrates their lack of awareness in the industry.
- Kiro 9y agoHow so?
- ozpri 9y agoBecause Uber is ride sharing that is getting into self-driving vehicles, their money comes from the rides we take. Alphabet (Google) Is literally just testing and developing their own self-driving car technology. As far as we know they have no business model, yet.
- maxerickson 9y agoUber is spending VC bucks on their development. They also spend VC bucks funding operations (so their huge losses aren't just because of investments in technology, they are a direct result of operating at a loss).
- Retric 9y agoThey are not as separate as you are implying. Alphabet could easily block Uber from using their self driving cars by preventing remote control and then set up their own competing service. Uber could sell their self driving tech to anyone. However, the reality is Uber is only looking into self driving cars because otherwise it's going to destroy their business long term and they don't want their stock to tank today.
- bhhaskin 9y agoUber is also getting their pants sued off by Google for selling self driving car trade secrets. A suit that Uber is more than likely going to lose.
- QuercusMax 9y agos/selling/stealing/ (or maybe buying?); Levandowski allegedly stole data when he left Google, and brought it to Otto, which is now owned by Uber.
- diebir 9y agoI guess except that it's not about some stolen files, but rather about people. Uber has the guy who built the Google's self driver tech, which is what really matters.
- QuercusMax 9y agobhhaskin's post said Uber was selling secrets, which is definitely NOT the case; I don't think I've heard anyone accusing them of that.
- bhhaskin 9y agoYou haven't heard the allegations that Uber approached Levandowski while still at Google to start Otto so Uber could buy them later?
- QuercusMax 9y agoI'm still not sure how that would involve uber in selling secrets; still sounds like buying to me.
- refulgentis 9y agoOne implies the other, so in this unholy pedantic discussion, a winning move is to point out that being involved in selling is the same as being involved in buying. Another tact: Otto is accused of being involved in selling secrets. Uber bought Otto. Otto is now Uber. Therefore, Uber is accused of being involved in selling secrets.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- jasonlingx 9y agoWow. How many people does Uber hire to troll on HN?
- SonicSoul 9y agoit's not obvious to everyone but Uber is betting big on self driving cars as well, in form of massive data science effort and route algos. great write up on this by Ben Thompson https://stratechery.com/2016/google-uber-and-the-evolution-of-transportation-as-a-service/ https://stratechery.com/2016/google-uber-and-the-evolution-o...
- _jal 9y agoUber is a rival. That they sort of suck at functioning as a consequence of their culture doesn't change the fact that the entire bet is that they get to a dominant position in self-driving cars. The current human-driver-driven model is a stopgap; they lose a lot of other people's money on every ride. Possible outcomes: - Uber achieves a credible 1st-3rd place dominance in self-driving vehicles. Investors, frat boys win. - Uber doesn't. Keeps human drivers, prices surge, Uber tanks. - Uber doesn't. Contracts with Waymo or someone else for cars. Survives, but doesn't have much more than a crappy brand-name. Joins the ranks beside Yellow Cab. - Uber implodes in a puff lawsuits, acrimony and skunked beer kegs. Sucks for the investors, but, eh. Uber is a cancer.