"Uber Eats might end up playing a key role in its parent company's robotaxi business, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said. The ride-hailing app is working with multiple companies, such as Alphabet-backed Waymo, to make self-driving cars available through its app. Waymo's robotaxis have already proven more efficient than most human Uber drivers in cities such as Atlanta and Austin, Uber has said."
"One big question hanging over robotaxis, though, is what happens to the vehicles during times of the day when demand for rides is low, Khosrowshahi said on Uber's fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. He pointed to one solution: Have them drive orders to customers through Uber's food delivery and freight businesses. Some delivery services, such as DoorDash, are also experimenting with robotaxis for food deliveries."
Uber Eats could provide continuous work for robotaxis by shifting idle vehicles into food delivery and freight tasks during low ride-demand periods. Uber is integrating self-driving cars from partners such as Waymo into its platform, and Waymo robotaxis have shown higher efficiency than most human drivers in some cities. Delivery-focused use cases could increase vehicle utilization compared with pure ride-hailing deployment. Some competitors are already testing robotaxis for deliveries. Uber's delivery business is growing faster than its ride-hailing segment. Operational efficiency and safety incidents remain significant challenges for autonomous vehicle deployment.
Read at Business Insider
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