Uber sells self-driving unit in deal that will push Aurora’s valuation to $10B

Wasn't Uber's whole money losing strategy based on the vision that one day they'll use their self-driving cars to get the driving done for cheaper?

This self-driving system promise keeps getting delayed! It looks to me this is a case of a donkey led by a carrot on a stick (investors are the donkey here). What I never understand is what happens when a new situation that the system did not previously train for happen? what if this situation is deadly? Will all the Uber cars decide to jump off a cliff because of a wrong signalization or bad weather? What will the Teslas decide? Nature is very capable of creating 1 thing and multiply it, but it does not. The reason is it is more secure to have variation. If a problem happens, it will not affect every member (same what is happening with COVID by the way) Creating a mono-brain will soon prove disastrous. You just need a previously not seen situation or a crazy guy that gets imaginative and that will induce the death of hundreds

Car companies doesn&#x27;t make their own airbags, they buy them from Autoliv. They don&#x27;t make their own brakes, they buy them from Brembo. They buy transmissions from ZF, tires from Michelin, ECUs from Bosch, etc. Why should car manufacturers develop their own self driving technology instead of letting others, like Bosch [1] or Veoneer [2], do that and buy it from them? Spread the investment over more cars, it makes sense.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bosch-mobility-solutions.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bosch-mobility-solutions.com&#x2F;</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.veoneer.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.veoneer.com&#x2F;</a>

Is it possible that just having an app doesn&#x27;t make you a tech company? Anyone else ready to think Uber might just be an overvalued taxi company?

So Uber is throwing in $6.2B in ATG equity plus $400M in cash and getting $2.6B in Aurora equity? Sounds like a massively down round.

Genuinely wondering -<p>- How a 600 person company will determine who among the 1200 at ATG gets acquihired?<p>- How will the Uber employee unvested stocks get paid out (or not) in an almost no cash deal?

They also are selling their &quot;flying taxi&quot; group to Joby.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theverge.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;12&#x2F;2&#x2F;22086597&#x2F;uber-sells-flying-taxi-elevate-joby-aviation" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theverge.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;12&#x2F;2&#x2F;22086597&#x2F;uber-sells-flyin...</a><p>Time for Uber to actually try and make a profit off of their core business, perhaps?? Good luck!

I was approached by Uber&#x27;s self driving division a few months ago and I asked about the layoffs and changes there. They said not to worry about it. Turns out I was right in the end to worry about it and not work there.

Signals the end of the self driving delusion, at least for 10-20 years.

And Uber stock in after-hours trading is not even flinching. Wasn&#x27;t this like, THE whole strategy?

Sounds a lot more like a merger than sale:<p>&gt; Uber is handing over its equity in ATG and investing $400 million into Aurora, which will give it a 26% stake in the combined company

what happens to Uber now when Waymo releases self-driving taxi? Will they lose all competitive advantage?

And in talks to sell air taxi service. Uber Elevate tested helicopter flights to JFK with limited service. It seemed like they were betting big on eVTOL.

&quot;Uber sells&quot; &quot;Uber takes stake&quot;<p>I....cannot put +&#x2F;- signs on the balance sheet for this transaction.

Is Lyft going to follow suit with Lyft L5?

With Prop 22 in place the drivers are robots now.

Uber seems to be selling bits and pieces of itself every year. Perhaps it is wise to raise cash and focus on its core business.

When will investors learn to separate hype from what&#x27;s possible - Augmented reality, blockchain, self-driving cars, AI? The reality on the ground is a lot different than all these startup peddlers have you believe. This makes it a lot difficult for people who are actually building useful things raise money.

Nice move for everyone around<p>F for Uber’s optics but it is clear how this is good for them nearterm

Ha! I have been saying this for at least 2 years. I see no reason for them to be in the self driving space. That is not their forte. In fact not burning cash there will make them more flexible.

how is this a <i>sale</i>, exactly? uber seems to be giving away their self driving division and $400 for the right to be a privileged Aurora customer in the future.

I&#x27;d be shocked if Uber is around in the next 5 years.

Another nail in the coffin of &quot;self driving cars will be here very soon!&quot;...

I don&#x27;t understand the current state of self driving cars.<p>First we have tesla which already has a self driving car. They were the first to build one and now everyone is playing catch up, or are they?<p>Waymo has been building something for a really long time too but I have no idea how close they are to an actual product.<p>Now there is this new company that gets a bunch of money to build something.<p>It feels to me like the self driving car market will go to the first player who can make a self driving car -- which is tesla.<p>Or maybe no one is close to making a really good self driving car yet, and even if they did, they would have to convince people like me that I can sleep at the wheel while surrounded by massholes.