See why these Chinese Robotaxis are miles ahead of Waymo 🇨🇳🤖
Waymo vandalized after dropping off a passenger, Uber & WeRide to Launch Robotaxis in Dubai and Ride AI recap.
My annual Curbivore conference is just one week away - happening on April 11th in Downtown LA! We’ve got a great lineup of speakers and partners (Uber, DoorDash, Zoox, Waymo and more!) and AVs/automation/AI will all be big themes at the event. Plus, it’s held at a unique outdoor/indoor venue in sunny Los Angeles - unlike any conference out there, guaranteed!
You’re in luck as TDD readers still have a chance to grab 50% off tickets for the event 🎉 (Public sector employees get in free!) 🎟️ See you there!
Top Stories of the Week
I had a great time at the first annual Ride AI event on Wednesday in Hollywood (link)! I moderated the panel 'Hailing the Future: Where Robotaxis and Ridehailing Go from Here' alongside Michael White from Zoox, Stephen Hayes from Lyft, and Sascha Meyer from MOIA.
It was interesting to learn about Lyft’s ‘best kept secret’, their Flex drive program in which they own, manage and operate 15,000 vehicles. Stephen also talked about how in Los Angeles, peak demand is 6x the lowest times during a regular week, which makes it especially challenging for AV operators with a fixed fleet size.
Michael highlighted that Zoox is actually trying to solve a few hard problems at once: they’re building a purpose built vehicle, deploying AV tech and building a consumer rideshare brand. But he says the reason why customers are going to download the Zoox app in the future is because of the amazing in-car experience (I might be convinced after watching the Chinese robotaxi video below..). I have yet to take a ride but heard positive things - looking forward to taking Michael up on his offer for a test drive!
Drawing on an international perspective, Sascha discussed how autonomous on-demand services can move beyond testing and integrate into everyday mobility in diverse market and regulatory environments. He says that scaling autonomous mobility relies on strong industry partnerships to develop solutions that address partner-specific needs, coupled with ambitious strategies for broad deployment.
Overall, the event had great energy and lots of programming, with folks from all over the globe. If you missed it, I know a lot of the same people and themes will be covered next week at Curbivore.
I tried Chinese Robotaxis… Again (link). Great video by
. I’ve been interested in Apollo Go since I learned that they did over 1.1 million driverless rides in the fourth quarter of 2024 and this video was eye opening in regards to the experience. Can’t speak to the safety/driving ability but just from watching the video, you can tell that the Apollo Go product and experience is miles ahead of Waymo:🚪The door auto unlocks and opens when you walk up
🗣️Voice control
💆♂️Luxurious vehicle experience (massaging seats, nap mode, etc)
🛣️The vehicles will go on highways
🔋Autonomous battery swapping in 3 minutes
😭The pick-ups and drop-offs are a bit chaotic though
WeRide expands robotaxi service to Dubai in partnership with Uber and RTA (link).
Cool Rides
The future feels like autonomy is truly happening (link).
On the way to the game, my family and I had the chance to ride in a Waymo for the first time (link).
So I finally took a Waymo ride for the first time yesterday, so cool! (link).
WHEEL-Y GREAT I was nervous to try Uber’s driverless cars for first time – but hidden perks & quiet luxury won me over in minutes (link).
Humans behaving badly
Waymo Vandalized After Dropping Off Passenger (link).
Dog pulls up in a Waymo (link).
Other Stuff
I’m still seeing high pickup ETAs here in LA on Waymo during peak times. For this ride on Saturday night at 7 pm to n/soto (iykyk), Waymo was priced at $29.45, compared to Uber’s $25.95. Although Waymo is not a bad deal at almost $4 more, the 16 minute wait time is killer if you don’t plan ahead.
had a similar experience (link) while he was in LA for the week. I think it’s clear that Waymo is trying to price their rides 10-20% higher than UberX which makes sense. It’s a premium product - the vehicle alone has a $75,000 MSRP while the average Uber vehicle is an 8 year old Prius worth only $30,000. If anything, I think Waymo could charge more since a lot of their early adopters are AV enthusiasts and happy to pay more and wait longer for a Waymo than an Uber.Why Waymo won't crush Uber anytime soon (link). Good article by
and echoes a lot of the analysis I wrote about in my Waymo vs Uber post.Super impressed with Waymo today in SF. When I got out the car I left a small brown paper bag on the back seat with my dog's medicine in it. The car detected the object immediately and used the external speakers to notify me (across the street!) I had left something in the car (link).
Technological unemployment in the age of Waymo (link). Insightful article by
, where he dives deep into how self-driving technology will impact workers in rideshare, delivery, and many other industries.
Good insights from Gokul here. In my Waymo teen article, I talked about how the younger generation could represent a step function in growth for both Waymo and Uber. Less young people are getting their driver licenses than ever before and relying on Uber/Waymo, e-bikes (especially in beach communities), and other modes of transportation. So it's a lot easier to convince them to never buy a car and rely on rideshare, which might increase their ride habits by 10-20x compared to the average customer.
Shout-outs
Big thanks to TDD readers Marisa M and CHK for the new subscriber referrals over the weekend. They each received a free ticket to the Ride AI summit. If you missed out on the last contest, we’re going to do another one starting now until Monday morning, and the top 3 referrers will get a free ticket to Curbivore on 4/11 in LA! Just refer a friend by using the button below or forwarding this e-mail on to them.
Until next week.
-Harry
Great episode as always Harry! Will also touch on the chinese players and their expansion to Middle East in this weeks Newsletter.