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Re:Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Auror... by necubi on Monday December 07, 2020 @05:18PM (#25338455)
If there are competitors (e.g., Waymo) that have self-driving that's significantly cheaper, then Uber and Lyft can't compete. So it's a huge potential threat to their businesses. And if self-driving makes rides much cheaper, that can significantly boost the size of the market. But that does not imply that they can't be successful and profitable businesses in a world without self-driving cars, which is the frequently-made claim in the top post.
Re:Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Auror... by mkolodny on Monday December 07, 2020 @06:40PM (#25339336)
I agree that saying self-driving is a threat is very different from saying that your business will fail unless you create self-driving cars.

Also, saying that Uber/Lyft need to create their own self-driving cars is ignoring the fact that other companies that create self-driving cars are, and will likely continue to offer rides in their cars through existing ride sharing companies.

Re:Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Auror... by jfim on Monday December 07, 2020 @09:57PM (#25341143)
> other companies that create self-driving cars are, and will likely continue to offer rides in their cars through existing ride sharing companies

That remains to be seen. If a company is able to create self driving cars, what's the value add provided by Uber and Lyft? Having a middleman TNC platform skim some profits doesn't really make sense from that perspective.

Compared to achieving reliable and cost effective autonomy at scale, building a ride sharing app is trivial, and customers have indicated that they're willing to install another app if the fares are cheaper. The complexity of getting a self driving service is high enough that there probably will be only a few entrants in the market, unlike the current value add provided by the TNC apps that match customers with a large pool of individual providers.

Re:Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Auror... by astrange on Monday December 07, 2020 @10:49PM (#25341544)
Uber seems to be expanding into food delivery and other logistics, where trust is still valuable so a middleman can be useful, but it’s hard to say how well it’ll work.
Re:Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Auror... by cmsj on Monday December 07, 2020 @06:37PM (#25339302)
Realistically though it's about as much of an actual threat as teleporters are.