It's a good question. There are enough local clones to suggest it's not the software that eats all the money. Bandwidth plays a role. Updating driver positions

It's a good question. There are enough local clones to suggest it's not the software that eats all the money. Bandwidth plays a role. Updating driver positions constantly, at scale, chews bandwidth. As does broad-casting trips, acceptances, and so on. I'm guessing Lawyers take a huge chunk. Uber is forever being sued especially in years past and they must have a pretty terrible legal bill. It was always part of the model to operate outside the law, so legal issues were inevitable. Plus lobbying - at every level. Changing the model (which they have done) takes a lot of lobbying. More lawyers, at lawyer rates. Marketing of course takes a chunk. That's to be expected, especially as competitors enter the market (riding on the back of their legal coat-tails). By comparison WhatsApp has no legal bill, no marketing bill, no lobbying bill, and so on.