Uber just spent $1.25B to fire its drivers with a smile

$1.25 billion. That’s what Uber just put on the table to make sure your next ride has no driver, no small talk, and absolutely no human to blame when it does something feral in traffic.

Uber signed a deal with Rivian to buy up to 50,000 autonomous EVs for a robotaxi fleet, with an initial $300 million investment up front. Because nothing says “innovating transportation” like spending nine figures to replace the people who literally are your transportation.

Uber will call this the future of mobility, efficiency, and “safety.”

Here’s the part they won’t say out loud: Uber doesn’t want “partners,” it wants hardware it can depreciate. Drivers can organize, complain, sue, strike, get sick, and occasionally become the main character of a dashcam video. A robotaxi just needs software updates and a PR team.

And if you think this ends with cheaper rides, please meet capitalism. Best case, prices stay the same and the savings go to executives and shareholders. Worst case, you pay more because now you’re funding the lobbying war as Uber and Rivian fight city regulators, unions, and anyone who’d like their streets to not become a beta test.

Meanwhile… Uber gets to pitch Wall Street a shiny story about margins, Rivian gets a massive commercial flex, and drivers get to watch their “flexible income” turn into “remember when.”