Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi Talks Robotaxis & Booking Outlook

Summary

Bloomberg Talks: Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi Talks Robotaxis, Q2 Results

Date: August 5, 2026
Host: Bloomberg Tech Interviewer
Guest: Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Bloomberg sits down with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to discuss the company’s Q2 financial results, international headwinds, the rapidly evolving robotaxi landscape, and Uber’s strategy for autonomous vehicles. Khosrowshahi shares detailed insights into Uber’s marketplace health, consumer and driver behavior, partnerships with emerging robotaxi companies, and the competitive dynamics in autonomous mobility.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Uber’s Q2 Performance & Outlook

• Strong Growth Amid Headwinds
  • Gross bookings up 22% year-over-year, marking quarter-on-quarter acceleration.
  • Mobility business stable at 20% growth; delivery business also accelerated.
  • Over 300 million Uber trips per week globally.
  • Profitability remains strong despite some international issues.
• Brazil-Specific Challenges
  • Slowdown in Brazil’s mobility segment due to a “war” in the food delivery market.
  • Two-wheeler drivers in Brazil moving from mobility rides to food delivery for higher pay.
  • “The guidance that we gave for forward gross bookings growth is very consistent with the guidance that we gave last quarter and hopefully we will meet and hopefully beat those kinds of expectations.” (Dara Khosrowshahi, 01:21–02:41)

2. Consumer & Driver Health

• Consumer Strength
  • No signs of consumer slowdown: “We don’t see any signs whatsoever of a consumer slowdown. So the consumer remains strong.” (Dara Khosrowshahi, 02:49)
  • No evidence of customers “trading down” or tipping less.
• Driver Earnings and Participation
  • Over 10 million earners globally; driver earnings up 8% YoY in the U.S.
  • “People talk about the K-shaped economy, but we think both sides of the kids [are] very healthy.” (Dara Khosrowshahi, 03:12)

3. Robotaxis & Autonomous Vehicles Expansion

• Strategic Partnerships and Market Expansion
  • Uber currently operating robotaxis in 7 cities with various partners; planned expansion to 15 cities by end of year and longer-term goal of 50 markets.
  • “We want every safe robot driver on our platform.” (Dara Khosrowshahi, 04:15)
  • Uber supports partners like Zoox (with recent NHTSA approval), Wave (testing in London), and Nvidia (launch of Alpha Mayo 2 AI model).
  • Uber acts as an accelerator and commercializer for the AV ecosystem via partnership, investment, and data.
• Zoox Integration Timeline
  • Robotaxi rides through Zoox will likely be available on the Uber app in Las Vegas later in 2026, with further city rollouts planned.
  • “Zoox’s strategy is going to be to make their vehicles available on Uber as well as on the Zoox app.” (Dara Khosrowshahi, 05:47)
• Waymo Partnership Approach
  • Phoenix deployment of Waymo was “less than 10 cars”—not material to strategic planning.
  • Uber emphasizes non-exclusivity: “Our philosophy has always been we don’t want to be dependent on one partner one way or the other…so that we’re not dependent on any single player to keep driving and growing this ecosystem.” (Dara Khosrowshahi, 06:23)

4. Robotaxi Competitive Landscape

• No Single Winner Dynamic
  • Khosrowshahi draws parallels between the autonomous vehicle sector and the quickly shifting AI foundational model space.
  • Waymo currently leads in the U.S., but he expects multiple winners to emerge:
    • "Waymo is in the lead now just like Open Air was in the lead. But there are going to be many, many players as part of this ecosystem..." (Dara Khosrowshahi, 07:31)
  • Uber’s role: connecting demand and helping commercialize new autonomous players so rides can scale profitably.

5. Pricing and Early Adoption of Robotaxi Rides

• No Race to the Bottom on Price
  • Contrary to expectations, robotaxi pricing is “super strong” with sustained demand.
  • Robotaxis are still less than 0.5% of overall Uber trips, indicating early-stage market status.
  • "When you get the product in market, it sells... The product is a terrific product." (Dara Khosrowshahi, 08:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We look at both our mobility and delivery business in terms of the growth of those businesses. They continue to be healthy.”
  – Dara Khosrowshahi (02:49)
• “We don’t want to be dependent on one partner… Waymo is in the lead now just like Open Air was in the lead, but there are going to be many, many players as part of this ecosystem.”
  – Dara Khosrowshahi (07:31)
• “What we’re seeing is pricing is super strong and demand is super strong as well. So when you get the product in market, it sells.”
  – Dara Khosrowshahi (08:47)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:21] Growth, bookings, and Brazil’s food delivery market dynamics
• [02:49] Insights on consumer and driver behavior
• [04:07] Robotaxi partnerships and market rollout strategy
• [05:47] Timeline for Zoox robotaxis on the Uber app
• [06:23] Philosophy on autonomous vehicle partners, Waymo, and platform independence
• [07:31] The competitive landscape in robotaxis and the analogy to the AI foundation model race
• [08:47] Robotaxi pricing strategy and consumer demand

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Overall Tone & Language

Khosrowshahi is consistently optimistic, analytical, and data-driven, presenting Uber as both a leader and a team player in the transportation technology ecosystem:

• Focused on diversified partnerships, not “winner-takes-all.”
• Confident in Uber’s ongoing growth, resilience in specific markets, and ability to commercialize new technologies through its scale.
• Engaged, forward-looking, and unafraid to tackle complex market dynamics and uncertainties head-on.

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This episode offers a comprehensive, insider perspective on the current and future state of Uber’s core businesses and its ambitions in autonomous technology, making it essential listening for anyone tracking the mobility, delivery, and AV sectors.

Transcript

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[Bloomberg Audio Studios Host]

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[Bloomberg Tech Interviewer]

News Take another look at shares of uber down about 6%. I think that's on track for its biggest drop since November. The company said gross bookings for the current quarter are expected to be between $58.25 billion and $60.25 billion. But that figure includes rides and and delivery bookings as well as driver and merchant earnings. Uber said it faces some international headwinds, particularly in Brazil and the next Focus Robotaxi CEO Dara Khosrow Shahi is back with us here on Bloomberg Tech. You know the gross bookings outlook, like there's a number of stories within it. I'd also note at the same time rider activity seems to be increasing. You know, help us understand those two data points.

[Dara Khosrowshahi]

Yeah, the gross bookings results that we had up 22% in the quarter were actually very healthy and represented quarter on quarter acceleration. Mobility business was stable at 20%. The delivery business actually accelerated quarter on quarter as well. So the business continues to grow at pretty extraordinary rates. At the scale we're doing over 300 million trips per week. It drove really strong profitability as well. The pressure that we talked about was really in Brazil which caused a trip slowdown for for the quarter and that was actually about competition in the food delivery space in Brazil. Actually we have a lot of mobility ridership that are two wheelers. We actually don't engage in the food delivery space but there's a big war going on in food delivery and that took away some of our two wheeler drivers from mobility to delivery because they're getting paid a lot to to engage in that war. It really has no effect on us whatsoever. So the guidance that we gave for forward gross bookings growth is very consistent with the guidance that we gave last quarter and hopefully we will meet and hopefully beat those kinds of expectations.

[Bloomberg Tech Interviewer]

Is there anything to discuss on both like the health but behavior of the consumer that you're seeing going into the second half of this year?

[Dara Khosrowshahi]

All signs point to a healthy consumer we look at both our mobility and delivery business in terms of the growth of those businesses. They continue to be healthy. We look at like other indications are consumers trading down and eating at more affordable restaurants, or are eaters leaving less tips? Eaters or, or riders leaving less tips. We don't see any signs whatsoever of a consumer slowdown. So the consumer remains strong. And then on the labor front, actually our driver earnings, We've got over 10 million now earners around the world that continues to be very healthy. And in the US for example, driver earnings are up 8% on a year, on year basis. So, you know, people talk about the K shaped economy, but we think both sides of the kids continue to be very healthy. And right now all signs point to the same going forward.

[Bloomberg Tech Interviewer]

Let's take the driver out of it for a moment and talk about Robotaxis. You kind of explained the plan for the rest of the year, which is to get into more cities through different partnerships and different lanes, different methods. Let's start with that. You know, are you wanting to see the team accelerate a bit on that deployment, Dara?

[Dara Khosrowshahi]

Yeah, definitely. So we're in seven cities already with a number of partners. And just to review, we're, we want to work with all of the ecosystem partners and just like we want every safe driver, human driver on our platform, we want every safe robot driver on our platform. And we're working with the entire ecosystem to accomplish that. We're in seven markets now. By the end of the year, we will be in 15 markets and we're on track to be on 50 markets. And we see, you know, a lot of advancements as it relates to our partners. I know you're going to have Aisha from Zoox on, they got a great approval from the NHTSA to run their like, really, really innovative and cool robot vehicles as well. We got approval for Wave to start testing operations in London as well. In video, who is a huge partner of ours, announced the release of their Alpha Mayo 2 model, which is a physical AI model as well. So the ecosystem around AV continues to move forward, is actually accelerating and we are helping that ecosystem accelerate through our partnership, through investment through data collect for a number of these partners and then ultimately commercialization of these vehicles on the road in the cities in which we live.

[Bloomberg Tech Interviewer]

Dara on Zoo, and I'll ask this obviously, but, you know, now they can charge a fare, which is a first for a true robotaxi. No driver controls. When does that, that manifest on the Uber app? When will Zoox be available on an Uber app? In whichever city with a fare associated with it.

[Dara Khosrowshahi]

We think later this year actually in Las Vegas and then we'll expand from there. And Zeus's strategy is going to be to make their vehicles available on Uber as well as on the Zoox app as well. So we're very, very excited to work with that.

[Bloomberg Tech Interviewer]

A lot of people want to understand what's happening in the relationship with Waymo. There was a change of plans in Phoenix, but how confident are you also about sort of renewing non exclusive contracts with Waymo? I think that your agreements with them, for example, in Austin, Atlanta run through 2028 and then you got to work out how to go from there.

[Dara Khosrowshahi]

Yes. So the, the deployment in Phoenix was a really small deployment. It was less than 10 cars. So that's not material in any way, shape or form. We're going to continue to work with Waymo. It's been a strong partnership going forward into 28 as well. And you know, our philosophy has always been we don't want to be dependent on one partner one way or the other. Of course we'd love to continue the relationship with Waymo, but then you've got partners like Zoox, A wave, we ride, Avride, and then of course Nvidia as well, so that we're not dependent on any single player to keep driving and growing this ecosystem.

[Bloomberg Tech Interviewer]

By the way, Dara, we're live on Bloomberg Television and on Bloomberg Radio and this is Bloomberg Tech speaking to Uber's CEO. And you've just said that you don't want to rely on any one partner. Let me put it a different way. If we accept that Waymo is kind of the commercial robotaxi leader in the US at least in terms of deployments, charging a fare of the rest of the field, which do you think is most competitive or going to be most competitive against Waymo?

[Dara Khosrowshahi]

I think, I think there are going to be multiple winners. I mean this market is so early in its development and I compare it to like the foundation model space you remember like three years ago or two years ago, you were like, open air is going to run away with it. They're going to, they're going to be the only game in town. Then it turned into anthropic and Claude is, you know, the best model that's going to conquer them all. Now you see, you know, X AI and SpaceX coming in with Grok and the combination with Cursor being a really great combination as well. You've got Google coming in with Gemini. They were late in the game, but they're definitely in the game, in video, releasing open source and really supporting that ecosystem. So there is going to be no single winner here. Waymo is in the lead now just like Open Air was in the lead. But there are going to be many, many players as part of this ecosystem and we will help the ecosystem overall commercialize because ultimately we've got the demand and we can bring more rides to those cars and monetize those vehicles in a way that no one else can.

[Bloomberg Tech Interviewer]

So Dara, really quick to drive Early Adoption Is it important that the robotaxi firms price lower than other rideshare?

[Dara Khosrowshahi]

No, actually what we're seeing is pricing is is super strong and demand is super strong as well. So when you get the product in market, it sells. It's taken a long time, right? Like 20% of search now is driven by AI. AV is less than 0.5% of overall trips at this point. So the adoption is going to take time. But the product is a terrific product and we look forward to making it available on the Uber app really all over the world.

[Bloomberg Audio Studios Host]

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