Uber’s Robotaxi Playbook, the End of Human Driving & $10B Bet on Robots | Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber CEO) | EP #244

Ilya (0:00)

I'm going to need to get my driver's license in a couple of years, but after hearing this, I have a question, so...

Dara Khosrowshahi (0:06)

Well, you may not have to get your driver's license, but it's good.

Ilya (0:10)

That was my entire question. So...

Dara Khosrowshahi (0:14)

So much of driving now is the technology in the car, around the car. So technology is always going to be a part of the human experience. Humans will be demonstrably less safe than autonomous, and then it's going to be up to regulators to decide what a human license looks like.

SPEAKER_3 (0:30)

How does that end up affecting the next generation of drivers? Do they have to learn how to drive? And what happens in sports like race car driving?

Dara Khosrowshahi (0:35)

Mass production of these AVs is going to take some time. They are very expensive today, much more expensive than a regular car. It's just happening faster than even I expected. And I'm an optimist as it relates to technology. Is society going to adjust and can it adjust fast enough? And so from my standpoint...

Sagar Chopra (0:56)

Now that's the Moonshot, ladies and gentlemen.

Peter Diamandis (1:01)

All right, so go to the mics for your questions. I'm going to start with this question on Slido. So what's harder, convincing regulators that autonomous cars are safe or convincing passengers to get into one?

Dara Khosrowshahi (1:14)

It's actually pretty easy to get passengers to get into an autonomous vehicle. What we're finding is, for example, at Lanner Austin, we let you know that you have been matched with an autonomous vehicle. 80% of people say yes, 20% say no, and the 80% who say yes love the experience. Regulators obviously move a little bit slower, but this is a technology that I say more people are excited about than not.

Peter Diamandis (1:45)

All right, we go to one of our teens. We have a group of 20 teens here in the room.

Dara Khosrowshahi (1:48)

Very cool.

Peter Diamandis (1:49)

Please, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_3 (1:50)

I'm doing good. I had a quick question just about, in 15, 20 years when most of the cars on the road are self-driving, does it ever become illegal for human drivers? Because do they become a safety hazard risk on the road? And how does that end up affecting the next generation of drivers? Do they have to learn how to drive? And what happens to sports like race car driving? Is that going to die out because nobody has to drive anymore? That's kind of what I'm asking about.

Dara Khosrowshahi (2:12)

Well, I think that race car driving is always going to be a thing because it's just so damn cool.

Again, you may be augmented, right? It's you think about so much of driving now as a technology in the car, around the car. So technology is always going to be a part of the human experience. I do think, I don't think it's going to happen in the next 15 years. But certainly in the next 25 years, humans will be demonstrably less safe than autonomous drivers, and then it's going to be up to regulators to decide what a human license looks like. Maybe the driving test is going to be much more demanding than it is today. I like free will, so I'm like, hey, if you want to drive, that's not a problem. But I can definitely see a future where there are going to be fewer and fewer drivers on the road, just like there are less people who know how to ride a horse.

Peter Diamandis (3:03)

Dara, so thank you for that question. I'll build on that.

There's a lot of deaths in the Middle East from young teenagers with fast cars. I guess I could imagine a future in which an AI overlay allows you to drive your car as fast and crazy as you want, but it knows the car's limits and it stops you from ever swerving off the road. It's like bumpers that you go up against, so that would be fascinating. That's just a comment. Let's go to your question, Mike.

SPEAKER_6 (3:35)

Just a question regarding when you have the flying cars. Now, from a real estate perspective, what will be the opportunity here? Will you be putting on top of buildings or heliports?

Dara Khosrowshahi (3:48)

We're talking, again, this is more Joby, but there's a lot of discussion on vertiports, so to speak. We want this product to be a mass market product.

These vertiports will have to be designed to have multiple vehicles coming, landing and taking off. The location of those vehicles is going to be based on very high traffic areas. I think, obviously, airports or city centers or the size of cities are going to be targets, so to speak. We've got perfect data in these cities as to what are the best places for you to place vertiports to be able to have the most business and reduce the most amount of traffic as well. There's absolutely a real estate opportunity. If you're interested, give our Uber folks or the Jobe folks a call.