Uber lost the race to build a self-driving car. Now it wants to write the rules for everyone who did. In two US states it is lobbying for laws that would force robotaxis onto its app, and its own product chief is happy to explain why.
Uber could not win the race to build a robotaxi. It is now trying to win the race to regulate one.
In Washington DC and New Jersey, the company is pushing for what it calls a “hybrid network”, public records show. The idea sounds modest. Any robotaxi service would have to run human drivers on the same platform as its driverless cars. In practice, it would hand Uber a gate that every rival has to pass through.
The reporting comes from Wired’s Aarian Marshall, who obtained the New Jersey documents, and TechCrunch, which detailed the DC fight. In New Jersey, one draft would require human drivers to handle 85% of rides for three years. In DC, Uber is fighting a bill that would let robotaxis run with no safety driver at all.
The hybrid gate
