Elon Musk says there's 'no need' for Tesla to buy Uber since Tesla owners could one day join its autonomous fleet
Elon Musk on Tuesday dismissed a hypothetical Tesla-Uber deal, saying there's "no need" for Tesla to buy the ubiquitous rideshare app.
Musk told CNBC that he envisions a world where, instead of calling an Uber, you can call an autonomous Tesla to get you to your destination without a dedicated driver.
"We have millions of cars that will be able to operate autonomously," Musk told CNBC's David Faber. "And I should say that it's a combination of a Tesla-owned fleet and also enabling Tesla owners to be able to add or subtract their car to the fleet, so that existing Tesla owners will be able to earn money by adding their car to the fleet for autonomous use."
Musk's proposed business model would allow Tesla drivers to rent out their cars for autonomous ride-hailing, "just like" one can rent out a spare bedroom through Airbnb.
Representatives for Tesla and Uber did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
After years of delays, Tesla plans to debut its much-anticipated robotaxi service in Austin next month, Business Insider previously reported. Musk confirmed the plans in the CNBC interview Tuesday.
"We'll start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40," he said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. "It will probably be at 1,000 within a few months."
Tesla has not yet unveiled the commercial version of its Full Self-Driving software, called FSD Unsupervised. This software will be used in its robotaxi fleet and does not require a driver behind the wheel like its personal vehicles.
When asked by Faber whether Tesla needed to make any improvements or changes to its technology or fleet in order to prepare to launch a large-scale robotaxi service, Musk demurred.
"I don't think we're missing anything," Musk said. "Tesla has all the ingredients necessary to offer a vast self-driving fleet."
Although Uber and Lyft have long bowed out of developing autonomous cars in-house, both companies plan to offer robotaxis on their platforms through partnerships with other self-driving-focused companies.
Uber, for example, already offers Alphabet's Waymo on its app in Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta.
Lyft said it has partnered with companies like May Mobility, Mobileye, and Japan's Marubeni to begin offering autonomous vehicles as soon as summer of 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why AST SpaceMobile Stock Is Skyrocketing This Week
Jeff Bezos visited Space Mobile's Texas headquarters. A picture from the visit on social media fueled speculation that AST's relationship with Bezos' companies could grow. A public spat between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump could leave the door open for other space companies to win some of SpaceX's contracts. 10 stocks we like better than AST SpaceMobile › Shares of AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) are moving higher this week, up 33.9% as of 2 p.m. ET from last Friday's close. The gain comes as the S&P 500 gained 1.5% and the Nasdaq-100 gained 2.2%. Earlier in the week, a board member posted a picture to social media that fueled speculation of a possible partnership with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. The stock also received a boost after yesterday's public spat between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. After Bezos visited the company's Texas headquarters, AST board member Adriana Cisneros posted a picture of Bezos, AST CEO Abel Avellan, and herself to Instagram with the caption, "Amazing things are happening at AST & Science + Blue Origin." This fueled speculation that Blue Origin, Bezos' space exploration company, could be looking to create a closer relationship with AST. The company already has a contract with AST to launch 45 satellites, but a more formal partnership would be a game changer for AST SpaceMobile. Elon Musk and President Donald Trump escalated a public spat yesterday. What began when Musk took to X to criticize Trump's flagship "Big, Beautiful Bill" quickly turned personal and included Trump threatening to cancel contracts with Musk's SpaceX. If this were to happen, it could leave the door open for AST SpaceMobile to, at least partially, fill the void. This is all speculation; nothing is concrete. That being said, both of these possibilities represent a huge upside for AST. For investors with a high risk appetite, AST can be a solid pick. However, be aware that there is a significant risk. The company has a long way to go to justify its valuation. Before you buy stock in AST SpaceMobile, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and AST SpaceMobile wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $674,395!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $858,011!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 997% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why AST SpaceMobile Stock Is Skyrocketing This Week was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
DOGE Staffers Fear Getting DOGE'd Themselves
WASHINGTON—In the aftermath of President Trump's epic falling out with Elon Musk, staffers within the Department of Government Efficiency face an ironic position after spending months paring back jobs and spending: They now fear being DOGE'd. The White House is publicly standing behind its work with DOGE. Nonetheless, the public feud between Trump and Musk has rattled rank-and-file DOGE employees, who worry the government-cutting effort—and their jobs—could be in jeopardy.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Andrew Yang reaches out to Musk to collaborate on new political party
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said he's reached out to Elon Musk in hopes of collaborating on the creation of a new political party, according to a Saturday interview with Politico Magazine. Yang, along with mutual friends, believes the Tesla CEO has what it takes to form a new faction that propels America's strongest leaders. When asked if Musk has responded to his inquiry, Yang told the outlet 'Not yet, but I assume he's been very busy.' 'We have been of the opinion that America needed a new political party for a number of years, and so waiting another 24 hours is nothing,' he added. Musk's push for a new political caucus emerged from his public feud with President Trump over the 'big, beautiful bill.' The tech giant strongly opposed the national debt increase after months of working with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut federal spending. Yang, the founder of 'The Forward Party,' said it's political outsiders like Musk who consider non-traditional approaches to the country's problems. 'I want to work with people that recognize that America's political system has gone from dysfunctional to polarizing to even worse. And at this point, the fastest growing political movement in the United States is independents,' Yang said. 'They feel like neither party represents them, and the two-party system is not delivering what they want to see,' he continued. Many people have recently left the Democratic party, including former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who announced she became an independent after seeing political polarization throughout the campaign trail. 'If you look at Musk's politics over the last number of years, he waited in line to meet Barack Obama, he endorsed me in a Democratic cycle, and even earlier in this cycle — 2024 — he was looking for an alternative to Trump,' Yang said. 'There are a number of things that I think Elon shares in common with a lot of other folks I talk to who want to see some kind of middle ground or balance. The problem is: In our two-party system, you get whipsawed either one direction or the other,' he continued. Last year, Musk was a major donor for Republicans but has supported a wide array of candidates like Yang in the past. Now that he's severed ties with the GOP, political hopefuls have been looking to capitalize on the billionaire's powerful funding reserve for future campaigns.
