Former Uber CEO Kalanick: Waymo Leads Tesla in Autonomous Ride-Hailing

Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former CEO of Uber, recently stated that Waymo is clearly ahead of Tesla in the current race for autonomous ride-hailing services. He believes Tesla needs a "ChatGPT moment" to break through the limitations of its vision-only autonomous driving technology. Waymo launched its robotaxi service in Los Angeles in March 2024 and has since expanded to ten U.S. cities, including Dallas, Houston, and Orlando. In contrast, Tesla’s Robotaxi only began limited trial operations in Austin, Texas, in June last year. Although it has started offering paid rides at a flat rate of $4.20, its service coverage and user base remain limited. Notably, Uber itself was once aggressively pursuing autonomous driving but significantly scaled back its efforts after a fatal accident in Arizona in 2018.