Waymo Calls Its Uber Deal a Gamble

Waymo’s co-chief executive described routing rides through the Uber app as “a bit of a gamble” in remarks reported on Wednesday, 4 November. The arrangement buys demand without requiring Waymo to build a consumer habit, and costs it control of the customer relationship plus a share of each fare. What it reveals is that robotaxi economics are a distribution problem as much as a driving one, which is the part valuation models tend to skip.