Uber picks a side in driver vs robotaxi wars: its own

Uber used to have such a bad relationship with regulators that it would secretly block officials from booking cars with its app. Now, it is teaming up with US trade unions to encourage stricter rules and stop big tech groups from replacing workers with robotaxis. Has it become an unlikely convert to stakeholder capitalism and red tape? Not likely.

Companies’ relationship to regulation tends to change as they go from small to big to huge. For a start-up fintech, say, strict know-your-customer rules are a real burden. For a giant bank such as JPMorgan or Citigroup, they’re also a moat that makes it harder for minnows to compete.

Uber is towards the larger end of the spectrum. Its tussles with lawmakers and watchdogs over its network of 10.2mn active drivers and couriers are well known. But the struggles have been worth it. In traditional ride-hailing, Uber has built up a virtually unassailable network of customers and drivers that promise the former an abundance of ride options, and the latter a steady supply of passengers.

Autonomous vehicles threaten that. Once Alphabet-owned Waymo has its own fleet of robotaxis, it only needs to attract passengers — not too hard for a parent company whose operations will make more than $200bn this year. That helps explain why Uber’s shares are down 8 per cent in 2026, despite its business performing pretty well. Analysts expect its own cash flows of more than $10bn to double by 2030, according to LSEG.

Hence Uber calling for “hybrid” networks that include human drivers as well as robotaxis. The company does make some good points about the value of human chauffeurs for passengers with accessibility challenges or during periods of extreme weather. But Uber undeniably has its own commercial interests at heart — as it should.

Because it operates in so many markets, Uber can easily fall into the trap of talking from both sides of its mouth. In the US, Waymo is gaining ground, so arguing for the regulation of robotaxis is logical. Yet in the UK, Uber last week launched the country’s first commercial autonomous ride service, arousing the ire of the GMB trade union, which warns of “unprecedented levels of social and economic disruption”.

It’s a fine line: regulators and politicians may be less likely to listen sympathetically to chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi if they feel his position is different from one market to the next. But if that places the Uber CEO in some apparently inconsistent positions, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. If Uber believes shareholders come first, almost everything else will be up for grabs.

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