Uber CEO says autonomous ride margins will take years to grow

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(Bloomberg) –Uber Technologies Inc. is prioritizing safety over profits as it develops its autonomous driving fleet.

“The most important factor is, ‘Can we make this technology safe? Can we build trust for riders, for example, in markets where we offer autonomous, half of our riders say, no thank you?'” said Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi in an interview for an upcoming episode of Bloomberg Green’s Zero podcast.

“Safety is job number one,” he added. “We will then, I would say in the next three to seven years, start to focus on economics.” 

Uber has been making a stronger pitch to investors on its vision of offering a mix of manned and unmanned vehicles, and has announced at least seven autonomous-vehicle-related partnerships and investments since June. These deals include teaming up with manufacturers such as Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo, General Motors Co.’s Cruise LLC, China’s WeRide Inc. and Austin-based Avride. Uber also said in August that it’s investing in SoftBank-backed UK self-driving software firm Wayve Technologies Ltd.

Later Thursday, Tesla Inc. is expected to unveil a highly anticipated robotaxi prototype, one that CEO Elon Musk envisions will ferry around paying passengers and let robotaxi owners make money when the cars aren’t in use. 

Read more: Elon Musk Readies the Robotaxi He Is Betting Tesla’s Future On

Khosrowshahi has sought to assuage Wall Street’s concerns that Tesla’s robotaxis may introduce stiff competition for the rideshare industry, highlighting that an autonomous future is not a “winner takes all” scenario. By opening up its platform to manufacturers to commercialize their driverless cars, Uber and its partners stand to benefit from an ability to reach more consumers, he has said.

“While the margins on autonomous will be lower than non-autonomous in the early years, we think long-term, it can be great for business and it can be great for society,” he said in the interview.