Autonomous vehicles are existential for Uber because they represent a superior product that will only improve, and distribution ultimately wins over raw technology in the AV market.
Mac argues autonomy is existential because it's a better product in many use cases today and will be better in all use cases over time. Uber is investing more in autonomy than anything else, and while technology winners will emerge, their expensive fixed assets need utilization — giving Uber's 200-million-consumer distribution network decisive leverage. ✦ AI generated
Andrew Macdonald · 20VC · 2026-08-17 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 17:25
“One way to bring down price is to remove cost, and one way to remove cost is to think about Uber taxis autonomous. You said before it was existential. Why is it existential, and how do you think about that, and how it changes the business forever?”
It's existential because at the end of the day it's a better product than our core product in many use cases. And I think those use cases grow over time, and eventually it's better in all use cases. Um you can quibble along the edges on like current autonomous vehicle experiences, right? In most cases it is going to be slower than a human driver. The pickup point may not be right in front of your door as you would get with a human driver. Uh it's not going to work in all weather conditions, all geographies, all pickup points. Like you can quibble on that today, but I think increasingly over time autonomy is not only going to be safe, it's going to be safer, and I think it's going to be a better experience because people like the in-car experience. The in-car experience of having privacy and being able to um work or sleep or talk with your partner or whatever it is you want to do. Like that is better, and people prefer that for the most part. So, when you have a better product that is only going to get better over time, and autonomy is as bad as it's ever going to be today, right? And every single day it's going to get better. Um then that's going to be the business, and that's going to be how people get around.
verbatim transcript · starts at 17:25
17:05insurance clip. Um which I which is why I do think in some future world, maybe not five years, but 15 or 20 years, everyone's going to be like Harry. Nobody's going to own a car. Nobody's going to have their driver's license because you'll be able to get around. And I think bikes and scooters will be part of that. I think autonomous vehicles will be part of that. I think
17:22public transportation will be a big part of that. But I I don't think you need to own a car. >> Now, one way to bring down price is to remove cost, and one way to remove cost is to think about Uber taxis autonomous. Um you said before it was existential. Um why is it existential, and how how do you think about that, and how it changes the business forever?
17:45>> I'm I mean, it's existential because at the end of the day it's a better product than our core product in many use cases. And I think those use cases grow over time, and eventually it's better in all use cases. Um you can quibble along the edges on like current autonomous vehicle experiences, right? In most cases it is it is going to be slower than a human driver. The
18:09pickup point may not be right in front of your door as you would get with a human driver. Uh it's not going to work in all weather conditions, all geographies, all pickup points. Like you you can quibble on that today, but I think increasingly over time autonomy is not only going to be safe, it's going to be safer, and I think it's going to be a better experience because people like
18:29the in-car experience. The in-car experience of having privacy and being able to um work or sleep or talk with your partner or whatever it is you want to do. Like that is better, and people prefer that for the most part. So, when you have a better product that is only going to get better over time, and autonomy is as bad as it's ever going to be today, right? And every single day
18:50it's going to get better. Um then that's going to be the business, and that's going to be how people get around. And if Uber uh doesn't have autonomy on platform, and we will, uh we will we will we are investing actively and aggressively to bring it to market. But if if we didn't, then it certainly would be existential for our core business. >> Is it the largest investment that you
19:11make? >> It is. I mean, I I think it kind of depends how you define it a little bit. Like if you look at our autonomy investments, we are making a mix of equity investments in companies, vehicle commit purchase commitments, building out autonomous infrastructure, building out data collect fleet. Like there's a lot of different ways we're spreading the dollars. Um and and we're pretty confident in the
- ·Autonomy is better than current Uber in many use cases today
- ·Those use cases grow — eventually better in ALL cases
- ·Autonomy is as bad as it will ever be right now
- ·Every day it gets better; the in-car experience is preferred
- ·AV winners have expensive fixed assets needing utilization
- ·Uber has 200-million-consumer distribution network
- ·Technology alone doesn't win — distribution is decisive
- ·Uber investing more in autonomy than anything else