Some Uber drivers are letting an AI do part of the job — and the CEO’s OK with it.
In an interview on Peter Diamandis’ Moonshots podcast published Tuesday, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that some drivers on the Uber network use Tesla’s Full Self-Driving, an AI-powered, advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) that enables hands-free driving under human supervision.
“We’ve got tens of thousands of Teslas on our platform now,” Khosrowshahi said on the podcast. “And some of our drivers use FSD. Sure. So we’ve got a lot of data. It’s a great car. It’s a safe car.”
There are no laws that would bar ride-hail drivers from using ADAS in their day-to-day work. Reuters reported in 2024 that some drivers on the Uber and Lyft platforms used FSD, citing one case in which an Uber driver crashed into an SUV while FSD was activated.
Tesla has faced legal scrutiny for its ADAS features, including Autopilot, which is similar to cruise control. Last year, a Florida jury found Tesla partially liable in a 2019 crash in which the driver T-boned a vehicle while Tesla Autopilot was activated. A California judge also found that Tesla misled consumers by calling the feature “Autopilot,” forcing the EV maker to change the feature’s name.
When asked for comment by Business Insider, Uber pointed to its policy on the “proper usage” of ADAS features. The guidelines said improper usage includes “failing to keep at least one hand and normally both hands on the wheel while the driver assistance system is engaged.”
A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for a comment.
Khosrowshahi said that he’d welcome Tesla’s robotaxis on the Uber platform once the EV maker’s cameras-only approach is proven safe enough for full autonomy on the roads. Uber has partnerships with at least a dozen robotaxi companies, including Waymo, Zoox, and China’s WeRide, Pony.AI, and Apollo Go.
“When the day comes when those Teslas are safe enough with a camera-only approach, we’d love to have those Teslas on our platform as well,” the CEO said.
Tesla operates its own ride-hailing service, called Robotaxi, offering a limited number of unsupervised rides to customers in Austin. The rest of the service operates with safety monitors in the passenger seat or in the driver’s seat, depending on local law.
Under California’s purview, Tesla does not yet operate an autonomous vehicle ride-hailing service, meaning Robotaxi operates more closely to an Uber or Lyft than to a Waymo.
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