Autonomous Driving Program Abandonment: A Mistake According to Travis Kalanick

On Wednesday, Travis Kalanick, the former CEO of Uber, expressed his opinion that the company’s decision to discontinue its autonomous driving program was an error. At the Abundance Summit in Los Angeles, Kalanick stated, “The new management team terminated the autonomous car project we had in progress. At the time, we were only behind Waymo, but we were catching up quickly and would have surpassed them soon. Although I was no longer in charge when this occurred, it’s clear that having an autonomous ride-sharing product now would be highly beneficial.”

In 2020, Uber sold its self-driving unit to Aurora, a self-driving technology developer, in a reported fire sale, three years after Kalanick was forced to step down as CEO. The decision made sense at the time, as autonomous driving was incurring significant losses, and Uber had already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the effort. Currently, Waymo’s self-driving cars are operating in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and are expanding into new markets.

Recently, Waymo partnered with Uber in Austin, and Uber is counting on its platform to be crucial in growing the service. However, business partnerships can be fleeting, and if Waymo decides it no longer needs a middleman, Uber, once the pioneer of transportation, may find itself moving in reverse.